LIGHT UP AMELIA

As long as we can remember, America has celebrated the Fourth of July with the annual lighting of a fireworks show for all to see. Some wonder why we commemorate Independence Day by setting off these thousands of small explosions? Well, because John Adams told us to do so, well sort of... Before the Declaration of Independence was even signed, John Adams envisioned fireworks as a part of the annual festivities of the 4th of July. In a letter to Abigail Adams on July 3, 1776, he wrote that the the annual event should be commemorated "with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and from one end of the Continent to the other till the end of time. The first commemorative Independence Day fireworks were set off on July 4, 1777.

Primary location: Fernandina Beach United States