Happy 4th Of July

[D21howie]

Happy 4th of July

[+ Vegas_Millennial]

She's looking good for 248!

[+ azdr0710]

The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more. You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not. I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will tryumph in that Days Transaction, even altho We should rue it, which I trust in God We shall not.

John Adams

 

Edited July 4, 2024 by azdr0710

[Luv2play]

This was also the day 100 years ago that the Caesar salad was invented in Tijuana, Mexico by an Italian chef. Something else to celebrate. 

[moonlight]

12 hours ago, Vegas_Millennial said:

She's looking good for 248!

Wow, this is my first time realizing the big 250 is only a couple years away!

Also, me doing the math to see if I'll be around for the tricentennial:

 

 

[+ Just Chuck]

Best part of the whole declaration;

Quote

We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.

 

[mike carey]

10 hours ago, Luv2play said:

This was also the day 100 years ago that the Caesar salad was invented in Tijuana, Mexico by an Italian chef. Something else to celebrate. 

I heard it said today that it was outrageous that Rishi Sunak had scheduled another event to detract from the commemoration of this important anniversary.

[+ nycman]

3 hours ago, mike carey said:

I heard it said today that it was outrageous that Rishi Sunak had scheduled another event to detract from the commemoration of this important anniversary.

That didn’t go well…..now did it.

[+ Vegas_Millennial]

On 7/4/2024 at 6:38 PM, Luv2play said:

This was also the day 100 years ago that the Caesar salad was invented in Tijuana, Mexico by an Italian chef. Something else to celebrate. 

Actually, by an Italian-American chef.  Cesar owned several restaurants in Southern California and one in Tijuana.  He was entertaining some important guests in Southern California and drove them to his Tijuana location so they could have alcohol (U.S. prohibition was in effect).  The bar was set up with very few ingredients for a meal, so he invented Cesar Salad with what he had in the kitchen, and it subsequently became a popular California dish. 

A true American story and something to celebrate indeed!

Edited July 6, 2024 by Vegas_Millennial

[BSR]

Ever wonder what happened to the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence?

5 signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died.  12 had their homes ransacked and burned.  2 lost their sons in the revolutionary army, another had 2 sons captured.  9 of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships from the revolutionary war.

What kind of men were they?  24 were lawyers and jurists.  11 were merchants.  9 were farmers and large plantation owners.  Men of means, well educated.  But they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.

Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept away from the seas by the British navy.  He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.

Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly.  He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding.  His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.

Vandals or soldiers, or both, looted the properties of Ellery, Clymer, Hall, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.

At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. The owner quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.

Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.
John Hart was driven from his wife’s bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished. A few weeks later he died from exhaustion and a broken heart. Norris and Livingston suffered similar fates.

Such were the stories and sacrifices of the American Revolution. These were not wild eyed, rabble-rousing ruffians. They were soft-spoken men of means and education. They had security, but they valued liberty more. Standing tall, straight, and unwavering, they pledged, "For the support of this declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of the divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."