i had good intentions, i had intended to do one of the hiking challenge hikes today, but i didn’t get up in time, and i was due for a family gathering at mom’s this afternoon. dad had requested strawberry pie, so i stopped to pick up a couple and called my sister. we headed down to the parks in our home town for a bit of a walk before dinner. they have a really nice walking track, and it runs in front of the garden center, we walked around the graden center grounds first and enjoyed the flowers.
then headed out on to the track, we had just about made an entire lap (one lap is one mile) when we found a family of ducks sitting on the side of the trail next to the water.
they were just so cute! we headed to the next park over where the mckinley monument is. william mckinley was the 25th president of the united states, born in niles ohio, and lived a good deal of his life in canton oh, where he met and married his wife ida saxton. he was shot on september 6th 1901 and died 8 days later, on september 14th. he is the third of four presidents assassinated in office. there are 108 steps total leading to the monument, we climbed our way to the top.
we walked around the outside and then went into the tomb. it’s dark and very cool inside. william mckinley and his wife ida saxton are interred inside. there were wreaths layed out for the holiday.
we all know that the fourth of july is independence day, the day we celebrate the declaration of independence separating us from the british government. did you know the legal separation from great britain occurred on july 2nd, 1776, when the second continental congress voted to approve a resolution of independence? After voting for independence, congress turned its attention to the declaration of independence, approving it on july 4th. One of the most enduring myths about independence day is that congress signed the declaration of independence on july 4th 1776. The myth had become so firmly established that, decades after the event and nearing the end of their lives, even the elderly thomas jefferson and john adams had come to believe that they and the other delegates had signed the declaration on the fourth. Most delegates actually signed the declaration on august 2nd 1776.
In 1777, philadelphia celebrated the first anniversary in a manner a modern american would find quite familiar: an official dinner for the continental congress, toasts, 13-gun salutes, speeches, prayers, music, parades, troop reviews, and fireworks. Ships were decked with red, white, and blue bunting.
In 1778, general george washington marked July 4th with a double ration of rum for his soldiers
In 1791 was the first recorded use of the name “independence day”.
In 1870, the u.s. congress made independence day an unpaid holiday for federal employees. In 1941, congress changed independence day to a paid federal holiday.
hope you had a safe and fun holiday!
