h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Happy Fourth of July, everyone!

Now, before you complain, 'But I'm not from the US, and this is a meaningless, ridiculous holiday,' consider this:

* Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence for the American colonists in 1776. Then he helped France write the Declaration of the Rights of Man. These documents together inspired revolutions and freedom movements around the world for the next couple of centuries - including the Vietnamese declaration of independence written by Ho Chi Minh in 1945.

* John Adams was big on celebrating independence. He wrote:

'The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations...[i]t ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other...'

Wait...the SECOND day of July? Well, duh. That was the day they voted for independence. But those printers put 'In Congress, July 4' on the Declaration (in English AND German), so we're stuck with the 4th.

Interestingly, three US Presidents - Jefferson, Adams, and Monroe - have died on 4 July, and Calvin Coolidge was born on 4 July. Fun with numbers...

Anyway, they've been doing fireworks since the beginning, because fireworks are a great 18th-century custom. They had some over at the local stadium last night. We went out on the front lawn and watched them. They did theirs on 3 July, not sure why, but different towns around here have them different nights. Maybe they all use the same fireworks team. And everybody can drive around and see them. So who cares? One day or another, celebrate freedom. Yours, and everybody else's. People of the world, unite.

Oh, the first music used to celebrate the 4th? Besides 'Yankee Doodle', we mean, or 'The World Turned Upside Down'? It was Johann Friedrich Peter's 'The Psalm of Joy', performed in 1781 in the Moravian town of Salem, North Carolina. I would like to hear this, but I can't find it. I wanted to see how Peter stacked up to my 18th-century favourite, William Billings. But no joy. Or psalm, either.

So here's a patriotic song by William Billings (Read about him here: A87746340 ). Don't complain: at least it's not Lee 'Proud to be an Amurrican' Greenwood. And it's MUCH easier to sing than that old drinking song. Funnier, too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqHHGLD_Ndk

Have a good one!

I think we're encouraged to celebrate it here these days (but just discouraged from emulating it ).

There's quite a few little events going on around the place to mark the day.