As you are out and about enjoying the long holiday weekend, you might want to check out the General Services Administration’s GovGab blog to see how other Americans are marking the nation’s 233rd birthday.
GovGab.gov has launched an Independence Day themed Flickr stream to allow readers to share their Fourth of July traditions. The blog will accept photos for the project until July 5.
In addition to the photo stream, you might also consider the following fun facts about Independence Day, courtesy of the Census Bureau, during your celebrations:
- At its birth, the nation’s population was approximately 2.5 million people. Today the population is 307 million.
- If you are planning to eat a hot dog or pork sausage this weekend there is a one in four chance the pork came from Iowa, home to 19.3 million pigs.
- But if you’re asking “Where’s the beef?” the answer is probably Texas, which produced 6.8 billion pounds of beef in 2007. That’s one-sixth of the supply for those juicy steaks, burgers and franks.
- Approximately $193 million of the $202 million worth of fireworks were imported to the U.S. last year came from China.
- China is also the largest exporter of American flags to the U.S., producing $3 million worth of the $3.4 million in flags imported to the United States last year.
- There are 31 places in the U.S. with “liberty” in their names. Another 31 town names contain the word “eagle.” Eleven places include the word “independence” in their names, while five have adopted names that contain the word “freedom.” Another five towns have “America” in their names.
- But just one town uses the word “patriot” and, shockingly, it is not in New England, but in Indiana. The town of Patriot, Ind. has a population of 190.Â
Have a safe and happy Independence Day.
