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Independence Day

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• Originally published 07/03/2013

  Why Doesn't D.C. Have a Military Parade on the Fourth of July?

  On Bastille Day in Paris, the trees lining the Champs-Élysées are covered in the French tricolor. Battalion after battalion of French troops march down the avenue, gleaming bayonets attached to their Space Age rifles. Tanks, armored cars, and nuclear missiles roll past a viewing stand where the French president and his generals look on as martial music plays.It's one of the largest military parades in the world, and it's been going on nearly every year since 1880 (except from 1940-1944, for obvious reasons). Here's what it looks like:Here's what the Fourth of July parade down Constitution Ave. in Washington, D.C. looks like:

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• Originally published 07/14/2010

  HNN Hot Topics: July 4th

  Fourth of July fireworks, Washington DC, 2005. Credit: WikipediaOld StandbysTop 5 Myths About the Fourth of July By HNN StaffOld Glory: Patriotic Symbol? By Rick ShenkmanFrederick Douglass: What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?News StoriesMarist Poll reveals ignorance of July 4th history (7-5-11)Tea party gatherings on the Fourth mix the educational and the patriotic (7-5-10)NJ Plan to Laud Declaration Signers Fizzles (7-4-07)Audio/Video

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• Originally published 07/08/2003

  Top 5 Myths About the Fourth of July!

  Credit: Wiki Commons.#1 Independence Was Declared on the Fourth of July.America's independence was actually declared by the Continental Congress on July 2, 1776. The night of the second the Pennsylvania Evening Post published the statement:"This day the Continental Congress declared the United Colonies Free and Independent States."So what happened on the Glorious Fourth? The document justifying the act of Congress-you know it as Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence-was adopted on the fourth, as is indicated on the document itself, which is, one supposes, the cause for all the confusion. As one scholar has observed, what has happened is that the document announcing the event has overshadowed the event itself.When did Americans first celebrate independence? Congress waited until July 8, when Philadelphia threw a big party, including a parade and the firing of guns. The army under George Washington, then camped near New York City, heard the new July 9 and celebrated then. Georgia got the word August 10. And when did the British in London finally get wind of the declaration? August 30.