Days Until US Independence Day (4th of July)

About US Independence Day (4th of July)

July 4 commemorates the Second Continental Congress's adoption of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, formally announcing the American colonies' separation from Great Britain (see the site's What Day Was page on the Declaration for more on the actual signing timeline, which extended well beyond this single date).

It's a federal holiday marked with fireworks, parades, and cookouts across the United States.

Massachusetts and North Carolina were both actually the first to declare their own independence from Britain individually earlier in 1776 (North Carolina's Halifax Resolves came in April), though July 4 remains the nationally recognized date tied to the Congress's unified Declaration.

John Adams, one of the Declaration's key authors, reportedly believed July 2 — the date Congress actually voted for independence — would be the one future generations celebrated, a prediction history didn't bear out.