Page 18 - IAV Digital Magazine #549

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4th of July: What is it and why do we celebrate the holiday with fireworks?
Fireworks are nearly always a key part
of our 4th of July activities in America — but ask most peo- ple if they know where this tradition began, and they may not know the answer.
The vision for the celebratory tradition actually dates back to 1776.
That is when then- future second presi- dent John Adams imagined — in a letter to his wife, Abigail — that a sparkling sky would honor the soon-to-be independ- ent 13 colonies every year from that point onward.
The man who would become the second president of the U.S. wrote, in part, on July 3, 1776, "I am apt to believe that it will be
celebrated, by suc- ceeding Generations, as the great anniver- sary Festival."
He also wrote, "It ought to be solem- nized 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 for- ward forever more," according to the National Archives.
Just one day later, on July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence
was adopted by dele- gates to the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
While some public recitations of the Declaration of Independence were
greeted with "impromptu celebra- tions" from local mili- tia in Pennsylvania and New Jersey on July 8, a formal pyrotechnics display would not light up the sky for another year, according to History.com.
In 1777, patriotic rev- elry rocked the first organized Fourth of July celebrations in Philadelphia — with fireworks dramatically lighting up the night sky.
"The evening was closed with the ring- ing of bells ... and at night there was a grand exhibition of fireworks (which began and concluded with 13 rockets) on the Commons, and the city was beautiful- ly illuminated," according to the
Pennsylvania Evening Post.
"Everything was conducted with the greatest order and decorum, and the face of joy and gladness was universal."
City officials in Boston also set off fireworks on July 4, 1777. Fireworks became available for sale to the public in 1783, the Farmer’s Almanac reported, and the tra- dition has lived on ever since then.
This year, in 2022, buyers will spend about $2.3 billion on fireworks on the Fourth of July, according to the American Pyrotechnics Association.
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