To those that celebrate this day, happy fuckin' 4th of July. Yes, I bbq'd, lit fireworks (see pics in scraps) and drank, just not in that order.

Now, I'm just a simple dude who plays drums, loves metal and enjoys the SoCal lifestyle - nevermind that I'm currently trapped by people who still drive around in trucks that have gun racks and confederate flags on them. Regardless, if you were born in America, do or did you ever wonder... where would I be (if at all) if it weren't for this day? This is something I pondered between my Arrogant Bastard Ale and Gin & Tonic.

That aside...

One of the most enduring myths about Independence Day is that Congress signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 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 2, 1776. In a remarkable series of coincidences, both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, two founding fathers of the United States and the only two men who signed the Declaration of Independence to become president, died on the same day: July 4, 1826, which was the United States' 50th anniversary. President James Monroe died exactly five years later, on July 4, 1831, but he was not a signatory to the Declaration of Independence.

* In 1778, General George Washington marked July 4 with a double ration of rum for his soldiers and an artillery salute. Across the Atlantic Ocean, ambassadors John Adams and Benjamin Franklin held a dinner for their fellow Americans in Paris, France.