The July 4th Trivia Quiz

Ten questions. No participation trophies.
The founders are watching.

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What this quiz covers

Three dates do most of the work in 4th of July trivia questions and answers: July 2, 1776, when the Continental Congress actually voted for independence; July 4, when it adopted the final text of the Declaration of Independence; and August 2, when most of the 56 delegates signed it. John Adams was so certain July 2 would be the national holiday that he predicted fireworks — "illuminations" — for the wrong day.

The questions above also cover the eeriest coincidence in American history — John Adams and Thomas Jefferson dying hours apart on July 4, 1826, the Declaration's fiftieth anniversary — and the Dunlap broadsides, the first printed copies of the Declaration, run off a Philadelphia press on the night of July 4–5 with only John Hancock's name on them. If a question caught you out, the explanations tell you why, and the links below go deeper.

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