Fourth of July by the numbers

The Fourth of July marks our nation’s independence from England on July 4, 1776. Since then, the day has been observed to celebrate our freedoms.

Check out these stats about Independence Day’s history, the Declaration of Independence as well as some stats from our celebrations today:

1. The Declaration of Independence had 56 signers. The youngest signer was Edward Rutledge of South Carolina at age 26. The oldest signer was Benjamin Franklin at age 70.
2. John Hancock was the first signer of the Declaration.
3. Thomas Jefferson wrote most of the Declaration of Independence.
4. The last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence was Charles Carroll, who represented Maryland. Carroll died in 1832 at age 95.
5. In July 1776, there were an estimated 2.5 million people living in the United States of America. On July 4, 2015, 321.4 million people lived in the U.S.
6. $368.6 million worth of fireworks were sold by retailers in 2012, while $482.6 million worth of fireworks were sold by wholesalers in 2012.
7. 24,382,182 Americans claimed English ancestry in 2014. 1,326,960 Americans claimed British ancestry in 2014.
8. 33 counties and incorporated places have “liberty” in their names.
9. Patriot, Indiana, is the only incorporated place in the U.S. with “patriot” in its name.
10. 54 counties and incorporated places have “union” in their name.

(Source: U.S. Census Bureau)

Fourth of July and farmers

Cheeseburgers are popular at Fourth of July cookouts. We can thank our farmers and ranchers for producing what we need to make our cheeseburgers. Did you know that a cheeseburger costs roughly $2 to make, but that the average family farmer gets just 45 cents for each cheeseburger? That’s less than 20 percent!

The other $2 of the cost to make a cheeseburger goes toward marketing, wholesaling, distribution and retailing.

Click on the infographic from the National Farmers Union on the right to find out how much each ingredient costs, plus what the farmer gets.