Fourth of July Photos

Philadelphian Ralph Archbold, who portrays Benjamin Franklin, waits to board the world's largest U.S. Flag-shaped hot air balloon at Independence Mall on July 3, 2002, in Philadelphia. The event marked the one year countdown to the opening of the National Constitution Center

Crowds wait for a piece of cake during the opening of Boston Harborfest at Faneuil Hall in Boston, July 2, 2002. The festivities are the start of a six-day celebration, marking the 21st anniversary of Boston's Harborfest, which attracts more than 2.5 million visitors and celebrates both U.S. Independence Day and Boston's history.

Savannah Tomasik, 6, from left, LeAnn Paris and Kaleigh Tomasik, both 7, march as the United States Flag during the Wyandotte, Michigan, Fourth of July parade on July 4, 2002 in Wyandotte. The trio are from McKinley Elementary School in Wyandotte, and Savannah and Kaleigh are sisters

Fireworks explode over the Charles River during Independence Day celebrations in Boston, July 4, 2002

Derrick Wallace, 12, part of a U.S. Navy League Cadet Corps, carries a flag in a parade in Philadelphia on July 4, 2002

Nearly 200 people wear red, white and blue to form a "living flag" as they march behind a band wearing Civil-War era uniforms at the end of the Shanksville, Pennsylvania, Fourth of July parade, July 4, 2002. United flight 93 crashed outside the small western Pennsylvania town during the September 11 terrorist attacks

Fireworks explode above the Iwo Jima Memorial during the annual July 4th display in Washington, D.C.

Michaela Clark eats from a straw of sugar candy as she attends an Independence Day celebration in Statesboro, Georgia, July 4, 2002. All around the state, Georgians celebrated the country's Independence Day with road races, parades, family picnics, concerts and fireworks.

The July 1942 cover of House & Garden Magazine, part of an exhibit at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History entitled: "July 1942: United We Stand," has Old Glory on it. To celebrate Independence Day 1942, seven months after Pearl Harbor, an estimated 500 American magazines burst out with Stars and Stripes on their front covers. Sixty years later and nearly seven months after the attacks of Sept. 11, the museum has posted 96 of the World War II covers. (National Museum of American History)

Bob Pfitzenmeier, a float technician for the Macy's 4th of July Fireworks spectacular, climbs the Statue of Liberty float to run electrical wires during the final preparations for the biggest fireworks display in the United States, July 1, 2003 in New York. For three days expert pyro-technicians from Souza Fireworks and Macy's employees prepared specially rigged barges for the 4th of July fireworks display

"Slice of America," from the U.S. Census Bureau's postcard series: "People and Places". The postcards document some of the people and places of the 2000 U.S. Census.

Regina Dove, right, and her sister, Macaria Dove, left, both of Kent, Washington, blow bubbles as they wait for the fireworks to start at the AT&T Family Fourth Independence Day celebration at Gas Works Park in Seattle, July 4, 2003

Christopher Mejias, 14 years old, left, and 19 year old Edward Padilla, right, both from Yonkers, N.Y. are buried in the sand on Coney Island, July 4, 2003 in New York. Mejias and Padilla came to Coney Island to spend the Fourth of July holiday on the beach with their families.

Fireworks explode above the Lincoln Memorial, foreground, Washington Monument, and U.S. Capitol, during the annual Fourth of July celebration in Washington, Friday night, July 4, 2003.

Fireworks explode over Boston harbor, Sunday, June 29, 2003, in Boston. Boston began its July 4th celebration on June 29 with a special fireworks display called "Salute to the Troops."

Under a 1936 mural by Barry Faulkner entitled "Constitution," President Bush speaks at a ceremony re-dedicating the original U.S. Constitution, Bill of Rights and Declaration of Independence, September 17, 2003 at the National Archives in Washington.

Marie Jeanine Sciamsi, left, and her sister Bernadette Sciamsi, right, talk to a tourist from Indonesia, center, while surrounded by American flags in Rockefeller Center at the end of the Independence Day holiday weekend, Sunday, July 6, 2003, in New York. The sisters, who are originally from Paris, were out celebrating 50 years living in the United States.

Students from Edgewood Elementary School in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, visit the Liberty Bell at the New Liberty Bell Center at Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, Friday, Oct. 10, 2003

Conor Park, 8, and his sister Ripley Park, 7, look at an original printed version of the Declaration of Independence at the Capitol in Phoenix, Oct. 8, 2003. The document was on display at the Arizona State Capitol Museum through October 12 as part of a national tour that will visit more than 40 cities. The document is one of only 25 remaining copies of the 200 printed on July 4, 1776, by Philadelphia printer John Dunlap by order of the Continental Congress, which had voted in favor of independence from England two days prior

A display of fireworks illuminates the sky near the Statue of Liberty as seen from Jersey City, N.J. on July 4, 2004. Parents from throughout the State of New Jersey bring their children to Liberty State Park on July 4th to enjoy the Independence Day festivities and see the New York City fireworks

President George W. Bush stands with 29 newly naturalized U.S. citizens in front of the Statue of Liberty on Ellis Island in New York. During the late 19th century, so many people were entering the United States that the government operated a special port of entry on Ellis Island in the harbor of New York City. Between 1892 and 1954 Ellis Island was the doorway to America for 12 million people. It is now preserved as part of Statue of Liberty National Monument

Leonard J. Sparagowsky, dressed as Uncle Sam, lends a smile and a casual wave to parade goers while marching in the 2004 Independence Day celebration in Kingfisher, Oklahoma. Sparagowsky is Oklahoma’s official “Uncle Sam,” appointed by the former Governor of Oklahoma, Frank Keating. “Uncle Sam” was first popularized during the War of 1812, but the U.S. Congress didn’t adopt him as the national symbol until 1961

Colleen West, 8, of Wilmington, Massachusetts, wears a colonial style dress during the reading of the Declaration of Independence at the Old Statehouse in Boston, Massachusetts on July 4, 2004. During Harborfest, a six-day long Fourth of July festival that showcases the colonial and maritime heritage of the historic city of Boston, the Declaration of Independence is read from the balcony of the Old State House, just as it was on July 18, 1776

This July 4, 1986 photo highlights the sun setting behind the recently restored Statue of Liberty. The statue, which was a gift from France to the people of America in 1886, stands on an island in New York harbor, near Ellis Island. Twelve million immigrants passed the statue by ship between 1892 and 1924, and millions of visitors kept coming to see it. By the 1980s, the statue badly needed repairs. People on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean raised money for the restoration, and in 1984, at the start of the Statue's restoration, the United Nations designated the Statue of Liberty as a World Heritage Site. On July 5, 1986 the newly restored Statue re-opened to the public during Liberty Weekend, which celebrated her centennial

The Empire State Building is visible at right lit in red, white and blue as fireworks illuminate the sky over Manhattan. Thousands of New Yorkers line the East River on July 4 to watch the annual Fourth of July fireworks extravaganza.

Anisha Stroud, 5, left, and her brother Dexter, 4, wave their flags during a Fourth of July parade in Atlanta, Georgia, Wednesday, July 4, 2001. The parade went on despite a heavy downpour

Fourth of July fireworks reflect off the granite wall of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., 1992. In the background is the Washington Monument

A United States flag display forms a backdrop to a statue of Chinese philosopher Confucius at a flag raising ceremony Wednesday, July 4, 2001, in Boston's Chinatown. Chinatown held its first-ever formal observation of Independence Day in 2001

With the Manhattan skyline glistening in the foreground, fourth of July fireworks explode high over New York as the city celebrates America's 222nd birthday and New York City's 100th anniversary with America's largest Independence Day display of pyrotechnics, Saturday night, July 4, 1998

Marilyn Jones, left, and Tracey McGee, fifth-grade teachers at Colt Andrews School in Bristol, R.I. look out their classroom window that their students painted to show their patriotism following the terrorist attacks, Thursday, Sept. 20, 2001. Bristol, with the nation's oldest Fourth of July parade, and possibly the most patriotic town in the country, responded to the attacks by blanketing itself in Old Glory

Dee Elliot, left, visiting from England, and Richard Penn, right, of New York, sit on the Great Lawn of New York's Central park enjoying a snack while they wait for a New York City 100th Centennial Concert to begin Friday, July 10, 1998. The New York Philharmonic with Kurt Mazur, the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, and the New York Pops with Skitch Henderson were all on the bill, which was to end with Grucci fireworks. The celebration marked the 100th anniversary of the incorporation of the five boroughs of New York into one city

Actor Mel Gibson, center standing, reads from the Declaration of Independence in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art during Fourth of July festivities in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Wednesday evening, July 4, 2001. The celebrities, from left are: Ming-Na, Edward Norton, Renee Zellweger, Kathy Bates, Winona Ryder, Gibson, Whoopi Goldberg, Benicio Del Toro, Kevin Spacey, Michael Douglas and Graham Greene, partially obscured

The Empire State building is dwarfed by a burst of fireworks Thursday, July 4, 1996, during Macy's 20th annual Independence Day pyrotechnic display along New York's East River

= = = =

Click on the links below to see more photos:

• Origins of Fourth of July Celebrations
• Fourth of July Page 2
• Fourth of July Page 3
• Fourth of July Page 4
• Sistine Chapel Photos
• Origins of Father's Day
• National Cathedral Washington DC Photos
• Volcano Photos
• Funny Photos
• Links page: Many Photos
• Go to Home Page