the Absolute Strangest Occurrences, Coincidences and Crimes of July 4th

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Much like a growing baby in the womb, the United States spend some time in a development phase before its official birth as a nation on July 4, 1776, on this day, 249 years ago. Our nations birth has always been celebrated today, even though the American colonies declared independence from Great Britain on July 2nd, not the 4th, when the members of the Second Continental Congress voted 12-0 on a motion to officially separate the American colonies from British rule. July 4th actually was the day when the final version of the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Continental Congress. It actually still needed final signatures though early August... but hey, July 4th is still a cool day.

Other than that, however, there are more strange aspects to the story, as well as odd occurrences on the anniversary of that Declaration adoption day, such as 2 key figures in drafting the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, dying within hours of each other on July 4th, on the country's 50th birthday in 1826.

So, it's the 4th day of July always being used to mark the start of our nation but in 1946, it marked our nation getting smaller when The Philippines declared its own independence from the U.S.

But what's been going on outside of borders and government to make our nation's birthday just as strange as any Friday the 13th or Halloween? Well, feast your brain on this report, the Absolute Strangest Occurrences, Coincidences and Crimes of July 4th.

--In the New York City burro of Queens, at the World Fair, police discovered a suspicious bag and moved it to an area away from the large crowd. About an hour and a half later, it was carefully opened to reveal dynamite. Then, seconds after, the bag exploded, instantly killing two police detectives and wounding five other people on this day in 1940. Police later questioned more than 100 suspects, then eventually warned the public that 1,500 detectives were actively working on the case. Despite this, the case remained unsolved even with the New York Mayor offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. The case however, remains a mystery still to this day.

--After a 120 million mile journey, Sojourner, the first remote-controlled interplanetary rover touched down on Mars, riding the NASA spacecraft: Pathfinder on this day in 1997. Pathfinder used parachutes and airbags to create a landing more advanced than anything in NASA history. Soujourner sent 10,000 images of the landscape back to Earth as well as important information about rocks and soil on Mars. The Pathfinder mission cost $150 million dollars.

--According to a nationwide shootings tracker, the website Gun Violence Archive, which defines a mass shooting as a single event with four or more victims either injured or killed, there were 22 mass shootings two years ago in one day alone, this day in 2023. This outbreak of homicide effected 17 states as well as Washington D.C. This 2023 4th of July mass shooting phenomenon killed 20 people and injured 126 more, marking a very horrific day in American history.

--An anonymous tip lead the LAPD bomb squad to more than 32,000 pounds of illegal fireworks in someone's backyard. Of which were determined too dangerous to transport due to some being damaged or leaking unknown chemicals. The bomb squad then decided to detonate the fireworks on scene. So they rolled in a disposal truck called the Total Containment Vessel which had already been used to detonate explosives 41 times. This time, however, due to a crucial miscalculation of the amount of explosives in the vehicle, attempt 42 injured 17 people, damaged 13 businesses, 22 private homes and 37 vehicles on this day in 2021. The incident lead to much revision of the departments protocol and the transfer of 5 officers out of the LAPD bomb squad.

--Last but not least, let me present to you, the most random fact I could find from July 4th. Ken Salazar, the Secretary of the Interior reopened the Statue of Liberty's crown to the viewing public on this day in 2009. It was previously closed since the 9/11 terrorist attacks of 2001. Guest on this day were among the first in years allowed to climb the 354 steps up to our lady of liberty's crown. However, anyone else following Lady Liberty on Twitter could see pictures of the event as well.

This has been just a few of the Absolute Strangest Occurrences, Coincidences and Crimes of July 4th. Brought to you by dougalonation.com. Please be safe today and have fun celebrating our nations birth, 249 years and 2 days after it was born.