[ti:Things You Probably Don¡¯t Know About the 4th of July] [ar:Kelly Jean Kelly] [al:In The News] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]This day will be remembered in American history, [00:04.78]wrote John Adams in 1776. [00:08.39]People will honor it with fireworks and celebrations. [00:13.81]He was talking about the second of July. [00:18.21]That is the day the Continental Congress [00:21.37]voted in favor of independence from the British. [00:25.51]But the date written on the Declaration of Independence is July 4. [00:31.74]So, since 1776, Americans have honored July 4 as the country's Independence Day. [00:41.34]And July 2? Not so much. [00:44.37]Several early U.S. presidents died on July 4. [00:49.11]They include John Adams, who became the second U.S. president, [00:53.89]even though he made a mistake about the country's most important national holiday. [00:59.90]John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, the country's third president, [01:04.53]both died on the country's 50th anniversary of Independence Day. [01:10.47]James Monroe, the country's fifth president, died on July 4, 1831. [01:17.10]And the country's 30th president, Calvin Coolidge, was born on July 4. [01:23.50]Most Americans celebrate Independence Day with barbecues, parades and, yes, fireworks. [01:31.81]But a few celebrate by eating all the hot dogs they can. [01:36.82]Since the early 1970s, a restaurant called Nathan's Famous [01:42.97]has hosted a competition to see who can eat the most hot dogs in a short time. [01:50.02]The event is now shown on major sports channels. [01:54.02]It includes a women's contest and a men's contest. [01:58.58]Both are held in New York City, [02:01.77]in a part of town called Coney Island. [02:05.11]For the last eight years, [02:08.21]a man named Joey Chestnut has won the men's contest. [02:13.45]In 2014, he ate 61 hot dogs in 10 minutes. [02:19.52]The 2014 women's winner, Miki Sudo, ate 34 hot dogs. [02:27.40]Let's go back to those fireworks, probably the most common image related to Independence Day. [02:34.98]Americans really, really love fireworks. [02:39.61]The America n Pyrotechnic Association ¨C [02:42.81]"pyrotechnic" is another word for "fireworks" ¨C [02:45.92]reported that Americans spent $675 million on fireworks last year. [02:54.38]Most ordinary people buy about $100 worth. [02:59.42]Cities and towns spend between $5,000 and $30,000 to put on a public show. [03:07.24]The biggest fireworks show is in New York City. It costs about $2 million. [03:15.56]Where do many of our fireworks come from? China. [03:20.36]By the way, we also import most of our American flags from China, too. [03:26.16]Happy Independence Day! [03:27.80]I'm Kelly Jean Kelly. [03:30.01]¸ü¶àÌýÁ¦Çë·ÃÎÊ51voa.com