On July 4, the United States celebrates its Independence Day, the day marking the 1776 US Declaration of Independence, in which its first 13 colonies declared their disengagement from British rule.
In honor of US Independence Day, here are 77 interesting facts about the United States of America:
1. In 1776, only 2.5 million people lived in the United States. Today, 328 million people live there.
2. In 1850, slaves were sold at a price that today was equivalent to $ 12,000.
3. The first man to possess a slave in the United States was black.
4. Until 1863, Christmas was illegal in the United States because it was considered an ancient pagan holiday.
5. After Christianity, the largest religion in the United States is Judaism.
6. In 1867 the United States bought Alaska from Russia for $ 7.2 million.
7. On July 4, 1876, two former Presidents of the United States, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson, died a few hours apart.
8. Interracial marriage has been banned in the United States for most of its history: from 1776 to 1967.
9. Every day, in the United States, 100 acres of pizza are eaten.
10. One American consumes resources like 32 Kenyans.
11. Every second, about 50 pounds of chocolate are eaten across the United States.
12. Every year, 8 billion chickens are consumed in the United States.
13. The most popular fruit in the US is banana.
14. One in three Americans is obese.
15. The average person in the US eats about 3.5 tons of food during his lifetime.
16. During the prohibition of alcohol (the law banning the sale of alcoholic beverages), in the 1920s and 1930s, the U.S. government poisoned alcohol and caused the deaths of more than 10,000 people.
17. In the 1930s, tens of thousands of Americans immigrated to Russia following the Great Depression.
18. In 1962, the United States detonated a hydrogen bomb in space that was 100 times more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
19. The launch code for all US nuclear missiles (Mintman missiles) that have been used for 20 years is the same code: 00000000.
20. The longest war in U.S. history is the Afghanistan War.
21. In 2012, more American soldiers committed suicide than were killed in battle.
22. At any one time, at least one person was killed by a drunk driver across the United States.
23. If you have $ 10 in your pocket and no debt, you are richer than 25% of the people living in the US.
24. 7% of Americans say they have never bathed.
25. Medical errors are the number 6 leading cause of death in the United States.
26. One in eight Americans has ever worked at McDonald's.
27. The U.S. has 115,000 maintenance personnel, 83,000 bartenders and 323,000 waiters who have a bachelor’s degree.
28. 25% of adult Americans believe in reincarnation.
29. 40% of US births are of unmarried women.
30. Nowadays there are more single men and women in the United States than married men and women.
31. No U.S. president has been divorced except Ronald Reagan.
32. Every hour, 100 couples divorce across the United States.
33. The distance between the USA and Russia is less than 4 km at the closest point between them.
34. In West Virginia there is a town called Big Ugly.
35. The US has more TVs than the number of people in the UK.
36. By the time an average child finishes school in the U.S., he has seen 40,000 homicides on television.
37. For every 3 people in the US there are 2 pets.
38. 9 million people are in prison worldwide. A quarter of them are in the US.
39. The U.S. government costs $ 2,768,902 a year to hold a prisoner in Guantanamo Bay.
40. 63% of prison inmates in the U.S. do not know how to read.
41. At least one in 25 people sentenced to death in the United States is eligible.
42. 97% of rapists in the US did not sit even one day in jail for the crime they committed.
43. In 31 U.S. states, rapists can legally sue children if they were born as a result of pregnancy following the rape.
44. An African-American is twice as likely to be shot as a white man in the United States.
45. About 20 million Americans live in caravans.
46. Every day, 100,000 people in the United States receive speeding reports.
47. The prices of textbooks in colleges in the US have risen faster than the prices of health care, housing, and inflation.
48. The cost of attending college in the United States has risen by 500% since 1985.
49. The U.S. spends $ 30 per American per year on outside health care, which can buy measles vaccines that are enough for 120 children.
50. In the US it costs to raise a child until he gets to college $ 245,000.
51. The largest banknote the United States ever issued was $ 10,000.
52. Nearly half of the credit card forgeries worldwide occur in the United States.
53. One dollar out of every 5 that residents pay in taxes goes to protection.
54. U.S. flags made in China are confiscated by the U.S. military.
55. The poorest place in the United States is the town of Allen in South Dakota, where 96% of the population is Native American (Native American).
56. 10% of U.S. businesses close each year.
57. 30% of U.S. businesses are owned by women.
58. Hackers immigrate to the U.S. up to 500,000 jobs a year.
59. In the US there are more public libraries than McDonalds branches.
60. In the US there are at least 97 people whose name is LOL.
61. Valentine's Day is also US National Condom Day.
62. In the US there is an official league of stone, paper and numbers game.
63. The average American has held a job for 4.4 years.
64. Apple has more liquid cash than the Treasury.
65. The U.S. government spends $ 1.8 billion a year on document printing.
66. The U.S. government spent $ 1.2 million from 2009 to 2013 on puppets.
67. Gerald Ford was the only one to serve as both President of the United States and Vice President without being elected to any of the positions.
68. Legally, minors can smoke in the U.S., only they are not allowed to buy cigarettes.
69. One in 25 teens in the U.S. has attempted suicide.
70. It is estimated that 1.5 million people are "missing missing" in the United States - these are people who have disappeared but have not been reported missing.
71. Every tweet an American sends on Twitter is archived by Congress.
72. By 2008 Nelson Mandela had not been removed from the list of terrorist elements threatening the United States.
73. The Four Corners Monument is the only point in the U.S. that is shared by four states (Utah, Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico).
74. The state of New Jersey was originally called "Lorraine and New Sweden".
75. Every 5 seconds, 60,000 plastic bags are used across the United States.
76. The US spends more money on health per capita than any other developed country, but life expectancy there is still below average.
77. The number of families living in extreme poverty, with a budget of less than $ 2 per day, has doubled 1.5 times since 1996 in the United States.
July 4 is also Independence from Meat Day and Jack Fruit Day