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July 4th Fun Facts... By The Numbers

On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was approved by the Continental Congress, starting the 13 colonies on the road to freedom as a sovereign nation. As always, this most American of holidays will be marked by parades, fireworks and backyard barbecues across the country. 

 

• Eleven places have "independence" in their name. The most populous of these is Independence, Missouri, with 113,288 residents.
  
• Five places adopted the name "freedom." Freedom, California, with 6,000 residents, has the largest population among these.
  
• There is one place named "patriot" - Patriot, Indiana, with a population of 202.
  
• And what could be more fitting than spending the day in a place called "America"? There are five such places in the country, with the most populous being American Fork, Utah, with 21,941 residents.

• There's a 1-in-6 chance the beef on your backyard grill came from Texas. The Lone Star State is the leader in the production of cattle and calves.
• The chicken on your barbecue grill probably came from one of the top broiler-producing states: Georgia, Arkansas, Alabama, North Carolina and Mississippi.
• The lettuce in your salad or on your hamburger probably was grown in California, which accounts for nearly three-quarters of USA lettuce production.
• Fresh tomatoes in your salad most likely came from Florida or California, which, combined, produced more than two-thirds of U.S. tomatoes. The ketchup on your hamburger or hot dog probably came from California, which accounted for 95 percent of processed tomato production last year.
• As to potato salad or potato chips or fries, Idaho and Washington produces about one-half of the nation's spuds.
• For dessert, six states - California, Florida, Texas, Georgia, Arizona and Indiana - combined to produce about 80 percent of watermelons last year.