Fourth of July

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Billy Joel Marries in a Surprise July 4 Wedding

Weds longtime girlfriend Alexis Roderick on Long Island estate

(Newser) - Billy Joel wed longtime girlfriend Alexis Roderick yesterday, turning the couple's annual Fourth of July party at the Piano Man's Long Island estate into a surprise wedding, reports People . The couple, 66 and 33 and together since 2009, are expecting a baby daughter this summer. Joel's 29-year-old...

9 Treated for Burns in Fireworks Misfire

Show in Colorado has a gaffe

(Newser) - The first big fireworks fail of the holiday is out of Avon, Colorado, where an accident during a show last night left nine people with minor burns. It happened about 17 minutes into the festivities, when a shell apparently exploded in its tube instead of soaring into the sky, reports...

Why This Weekend May Be Worst in Years on Roads

Traffic is up, and the holiday falls on a Saturday

(Newser) - The Fourth of July weekend is always a relatively dangerous one for drivers, but this year's may be particularly bad. The National Safety Council predicts 409 deaths and 49,500 injuries on the roads between 6pm tomorrow and 11:59 pm Sunday, the highest projected numbers for the holiday...

3 Foods That the Experts Won't Touch

And other food-safety tips to keep your July 4th rolling

(Newser) - Nothing can put a damper on your July 4th barbecue like rain—except maybe food safety experts, some of whom give USA Today pointers on how to avoid celebrations that end with you running for the bathroom. Doug Powell of the aptly-named barfblog.com starts with a few foods he...

What Fireworks Really Are: the Sound of War

Maybe it's time we lose them from our July 4 celebrations, writes Sarah Miller

(Newser) - When Sarah Miller, then roughly 20, heard a "nonspecific rat-a-tat-tat" while catching a movie at a theater in Bogota, Colombia, she, along with everyone else, panicked. It turned out to be fireworks intended to commemorate the mall's anniversary, but hearing them "divorced from the context of potato...

Now a Hurricane, Arthur Heads for the Carolinas

Forget those 4th of July barbecues, NC gov says

(Newser) - Arthur strengthened to a hurricane early today, threatening to give North Carolina a glancing blow on Independence Day, prompting the governor to warn vacationers along the coast not to risk their safety by trying to salvage their picnics and barbecues. "Don't put your stupid hat on," warned...

Fireworks Explode Into Crowd, Injuring 28

20 hospitalized after Independence Day event near LA

(Newser) - A crowd gathered for Fourth of July fireworks saw celebration turn to disaster as an explosion hurt 28 people. Twenty of those were hospitalized, four with "moderate to severe injuries," NBC Los Angeles reports. Their wounds, however, aren't life-threatening, the AP notes. The incident occurred in Simi...

Dad Fatally Runs Over Son Who Fell From Parade Float

Boy, 8, either fell or jumped from float: police

(Newser) - Tragedy at an Oklahoma Fourth of July parade, where an 8-year-old boy either fell or jumped from a parade float and was fatally run over. Making the story much worse: The boy's father was driving the flat-bed trailer, which was being used as a float for a karate group,...

Why Hot Dogs Are an All-American Food
Why Hot Dogs Are an All-American Food
OPINION
Jul 4, 2013 1:26 PM CDT

Why Hot Dogs Are an All-American Food

Bruce Kraig argues that the founders would have loved these things

(Newser) - Fact: The Founding Fathers did not eat hot dogs. They didn't exist at the time, and besides, "food connoisseurs Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin would have considered hot dogs to be the lowest of foods," writes culinary historian Bruce Kraig in the LA Times . But Kraig nonetheless...

The American Revolution Was a Failure

Historian Paul Pirie argues that the Founders fell short of their aims

(Newser) - Americans adore their revolution, but former historian Paul Pirie doesn't think it was terribly successful—at least not if you judge it against countries like Canada (from whence Pirie hails) that kept their monarchies, or by its own stated goal of advancing life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness....

Boston Suspects First Planned Attack for July 4

But they built their bombs too fast: reports

(Newser) - Dzhokhar Tsarnaev told investigators that he and his brother originally planned their attack for July 4th—but they built their bombs so quickly that they moved the mission up to the day of the Boston Marathon, reports outlets including the New York Times , Boston Globe , and CBS News . All of...

At White House, Marine Band Plays ... Romney Song

Fourth of July celebration gets just a bit awkward

(Newser) - The White House Independence Day fete took a bit of an awkward turn yesterday: As President Obama was visiting with the service members gathered on the South Lawn, a subset of the Marine Corps band started playing Rod Atkins' "It's America"—which just so happens to be...

San Diego Fireworks Suffer 'Premature Ignition'

Entire 4th of July show goes up in seconds

(Newser) - Millions of Americans had a firework-free Fourth of July because of wildfire fears, but San Diego got a big show—that lasted less than 30 seconds. The official display in San Diego Bay was called off after at least three of four barges suffered what authorities called "premature ignition,...

Cost of Freedom: Everyone&#39;s Selfish
 Cost of Freedom: 
 Everyone's Selfish 
OPINION
Jul 4, 2012 12:28 PM CDT

Cost of Freedom: Everyone's Selfish

From hippies to capitalists, US has embraced individual liberty: Kurt Anderson

(Newser) - The 1960s brought a raft of cultural freedoms, from women's rights to new attitudes about drugs. But anyone dreaming of economic equality has been sorely disappointed; old-school free market ideas have only gotten stronger. Kurt Anderson has a theory to explain the divide: On both the cultural and economic...

4 Weird Fourth Facts
 4 Weird Fourth Facts 
Jul 4, 2012 11:43 AM CDT

4 Weird Fourth Facts

3 presidents died and one was born on the holiday

(Newser) - As you're watching fireworks tonight, consider this: If John Adams had had his way, you would have had a three-day weekend. That's because the second president believed Independence Day should have been celebrated on July 2, when the Founding Fathers voted for independence, rather than the day John...

All Over US, Fireworks Axed Due to Heat

They're banned in scores of communities, particularly in the West

(Newser) - The red glare of rockets will be missing from scores of Independence Day celebrations tonight, Reuters finds. Dry conditions and record-breaking heat have turned much of America into a tinderbox and caused many communities—particularly those in the West—to cancel their annual fireworks displays. "All it would take...

4th of July Deadliest Day on US Roads

Teens make up 10% of day's traffic deaths, AAA warns

(Newser) - Independence Day is no time to forget about road safety, AAA warns. Today is the deadliest day of the year for American drivers, with an average 140 fatalities, and teenage drivers and their passengers account for nearly a tenth of those deaths, reports the Los Angeles Times . Road deaths in...

In Time for the 4th: Solar Fireworks?

Electrically charged particle belch could light up sky

(Newser) - The most intriguing fireworks tomorrow may already have been sparked 93 million miles from Earth. The sun yesterday belched out a major a M5.6-class solar flare—extremely close in power to a maximum X-class flare, notes Discovery . The flare from the large sunspot known as AR1515 produced waves of...

CBS Airs Fake Views of Boston Fireworks

Network showed images that couldn't really exist

(Newser) - Something was off about the broadcast of Boston's Fourth of July celebration—a few miles off. CBS aired footage of fireworks exploding behind the State House, Quincy Market, and Fenway Stadium, but astute viewers soon realized such views would have been physically impossible from where the fireworks were launched....

American Celebs Born on July 4
 American Celebs Born on July 4 
Jul 4, 2011 5:03 PM CDT

American Celebs Born on July 4

Really, is there anything more American than 'The Situation'?

(Newser) - While celebrating our nation's birthday, pause and raise your beer can and toast these famous Americans, born on the fourth of July. Highlights from the Daily Beast's list:
  • Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino: Which news do you find most surprising? That "The Situation" turns 30 today, or
...

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