July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress declared that the British Empire’s 13 American colonies were a new, free nation, the United States of America. Its primary author was Thomas Jefferson, who later became President.

Jefferson and John Adams, the only signers who became President, both died on July 4^th -- in 1826. When James Monroe died on July 4, 1831, he became the third President in a row who died on that holiday.

Calvin Coolidge, the 30th President, born on July 4, 1872, is the only U.S. President born on Independence Day, which wasn’t called that until 1791.

West Virginia was admitted into the Union on June 20, 1863, while the Civil War raged. “Mountaineers Are Always Free” motto west of the mountains didn’t jive with slaveholding aristocracy in the eastern part of Virginia. The first attempt to separate, in 1769, was unsuccessful. When Virginia seceded from the Union in 1861, that door opened again, permanently. President Abraham Lincoln, who said it was illegal for Virginia to secede, proclaimed that it was fine for West Virginias to secede from Virginia.

Ironically, The Philippines also celebrates July 4 when it ceased to be a U.S. territory. July 4 was intentionally chosen by the United States to match America’s Independence Day. It was observed in the Philippines as Independence Day until the name was changed to Republic Day in 1964.