SEVEN THINGS YOU MAY NOT HAVE KNOWN ABOUT THE 4TH OF JULY

The Fourth of July may be known for its stellar picnics, fabulous fireworks and heavy doses of patriotism, but what about the coincidental deaths and jumbo-sized gifts that have also marked America's 236 birthdays?

1776: Pomp and Parade, Two Days Late

America's second president John Adams is notorious for his love of Independence Day. Adams wrote that July 2, the date the Second Continental Congress voted to declare independence from Britain, not July 4, the date Congress' president John Hancock signed the Declaration of Independence, should be "the great anniversary Festival."

1826 and 1831: The Death of a President (or Three)

John Adams, the second president, and Thomas Jefferson, the third president, were bitter rivals throughout their political careers, but nearly twins in their deaths. They died hours apart on July 4, 1826, Adams at age 90 in Massachusetts and Jefferson at age 83 in Virginia. James Monroe, the fifth president, also died on July 4, five years after Adams and Jefferson in 1831.

1863: Vicksburg Victory

After one month, 15 miles of trenches, countless battles, near-constant bombing, Confederate Gen. John Pemberton surrendered to Union forces at Vicksburg, Miss. That surrender, on July 4, 1863 would mark a turning point in the Civil War. The town of Vicksburg refused to celebrate the Fourth of July for the next 81 years.

1870: Congress Makes It Official

It took nearly 100 years for Congress to make the Fourth of July an official holiday, despite the widespread celebrations that had been ringing in America's birthday since the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776.

1884: A French Birthday Present, Size XXL

The United States got what may be the country's largest physical birthday present on July 4, 1884, when the French presented it with the Statue of Liberty. It took four months to assemble the 151-foot-tall statue, which was shipped from Paris in hundreds of pieces. In other 1884 news, miners in Swan City, Colo., blew up their local post office on Independence Day because the town did not supply them with fireworks.

                1912: The Fourth Goes Global

It may be America's birthday, but the United States isn't the only country that celebrates it. Denmark started throwing a Fourth of July bash in 1912 after thousands of Danes emigrated to the United States. The Danish tourism office bills it as the largest Fourth of July celebration outside the United States.

1938: Federal Employees Rejoice

Congress officially declared July 4 a federal holiday back in 1870, but it took them nearly 70 years to give federal employees a paid day off. July 4, 1938, was the first Independence Day that federal employees picnicked, barbequed and fireworked without denting their paychecks.