July 4 Holidays

Fourth of July commemorates July 4, 1776, when the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence — the document that asserted that all men are created equal, endowed with the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, breaking thirteen colonies from the British Crown. Alice in Wonderland Day marks July 4, 1862, when Lewis Carroll first told the story of Alice’s underground adventures to Alice Liddell and her sisters during a rowing trip on the Thames — the story he published two years later as Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. International Day of Cooperatives was established by the UN to recognize cooperatives’ role in global development, observed on the first Saturday of July — cooperatives worldwide have more than one billion members. Filipino-American Friendship Day marks July 4, 1946, when the Philippines gained independence from the United States, establishing the friendship between the two nations. A declaration, a rabbit hole, a billion cooperative members, and a handshake between nations.