Fun Fourth of July facts

Families around the country will fire up the grill to barbecue some burgers and hot dogs. The evening will end with a bang as fireworks light up the night sky Saturday in honor of the Fourth of July.

Every year, we celebrate our country’s declaration of independence from Britain on July 4, 1776. Here are a few historical and fun facts about America and the holiday to help you celebrate.

A great nation

* An estimated 2.5 million people lived in America in July 1776. Today, 304 million people call the United States home.

Oh, say, can you see?

* The national anthem was written by Francis Scott Key. The poem was printed for the first time in the Baltimore Patriot Sept. 20, 1814, and it was first performed by a Baltimore actor who called it "The Star-Spangled Banner." It was adopted as the anthem on March 3, 1931.

Patriotic places

Many towns have patriotic terms in their names:

* Thirty-one places in the United States have "liberty" in their names. Iowa has four of the them: Libertyville, New Liberty, North Liberty and West Liberty.

* Twelve places have "independence" in their names. The most largest being Independence, Mo., with 109,400 residents.

* Nine places use "freedom" as their names. Of these, Freedom, Calif., with 6,000 residents, is the largest.

* And what could be more fitting than spending the Fourth of July in a place called "America?" There are vie such places in the country, with the most populous being American Fork, Utah, with 25,596 residents.

Sign here

* John Hancock was the only person to sign the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. Most of the 56 others who signed did so on Aug. 2.

Yankee Doodle Dandy

* Calvin Coolidge, the 30th U.S. president, was born July 4, 1872, in Plymouth, Vt.

* Three presidents have died on July 4 - John Adams and Thomas Jefferson in 1826, and James Monroe in 1831.

Lady Liberty

* France gave the Statue of Liberty to the United States in recognition of the friendship established during the American Revolution.

* Sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi was commissioned to design a sculpture to be completed by 1876 to commemorate the centennial of the American Declaration of Independence. But funding on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean held up the project.

* The United States constructed the pedestal on which she stands. It was completed in April 1886. The statue was completed in France in 1884 and arrived in New York Harbor in June 1885. The statue was reduced to 350 individual pieces and packed in 214 crates. It took four months to re-assemble. On Oct. 28, 1886, the dedication of the Statue of Liberty took place.

* The statue is 305 feet, 6 inches tall from the base to the tip of the torch.

* A tablet held in her left hand measures 23 feet, 7 inches tall and 13 feet, 7 inches wide. It is inscribed with the date July IV MDCCLXXVI (July 4, 1776).

* The statue has a 35-foot waistline.

* Total weight of the statue is 225 tons.

Fireworks facts

* Fireworks were popular with holidays even before the Declaration of Independence was signed. Fireworks were used during the celebration of the first Independence Day in 1777.

* China supplies the bulk of the fireworks imported to the United States.

n Japan buys more fireworks from the United States than from any other country.

- Information taken from www.usflag.org;

www.census.gov; www.ushistory.org; www.whitehouse.gov; www.statueofliberty.org; and www.americanpyro.com