The 4th of July

1

Number of municipalities with “patriot” in the name. Patriot, Ind. (Pop. 209).

11

Number of municipalities that have “independence” in their names. The most populous one is Independence, Mo. (Pop. 116,830).

31

Number of municipalities that have “liberty” in their names. Iowa, with four, has more of these places than any other state: Libertyville, New Liberty, North Liberty and West Liberty. Of course, Door County has Liberty Grove.

56

Number of signers to the Declaration of Independence. Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Roger Sherman and Robert R. Livingston comprised the Committee of Five that drafted the Declaration. Jefferson, regarded as the strongest and most eloquent writer, wrote most of the document.

1.8 million

Dollar value of U.S. flags exported in 2014. Turkey was the leading customer, purchasing $673,000 worth.

2.5 million

In July 1776, the estimated number of people living in the newly independent nation.

81 million

Number of Americans who said they have taken part in a barbecue during the previous year. It’s probably safe to assume a lot of these events took place on Independence Day.

247.1 million

The value of fireworks imported from China in 2014, representing the bulk of all U.S. fireworks imported ($257.8 million). U.S. exports of fireworks, by comparison, came to just $11.9 million in 2014, with Israel purchasing more than any other country ($5.4 million).

325 million

The nation’s estimated population on this July Fourth.

Source: Historical Statistics of the United States, U.S. Census Bureau, American FactFinder