Happy birthday to the good old U.S.A.

Happy birthday to a great country (in spite of Donald Trumps insistence that it isn't).  Here are a few things you may not have known about Independence Day.

The 4^th of July

Author Kenneth C. Davis has revealed that the 2nd of July may actually be the more appropriate date to mark the nation's special day. "The fact is that John Adams wrote home to Abigail on the 3rd that this day, July 2nd will go down in history,"

July 4 marks a day of liberation in both the Philippines and Rwanda. In the Southeast Asian nation, July 4, known as "Republic Day," marks the date when the United States officially recognized the Philippines as an independent state in 1946

"Americans began observing the Fourth of July as early as 1777, when the first-ever major celebration in Philadelphia included a parade, a thirteen-shot cannon salute and fireworks,

Five years to the day after Adams and Jefferson died -- on July 4, 1831 -- the fifth President, James Monroe, passed away. So three presidents have died on the same date: July 4th. One more Presidential fact about the Fourth of July. Calvin Coolidge, the 30th President, was born in Vermont on July 4th, 1872!

July Fourth is the "biggest hot dog holiday of the year," according to TIME magazine, with Americans reportedly consuming about 155 million of them on Independence Day alone. But despite a nationwide love for the salty snack, no one really knows where the hot dog came from. According to the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council, it is "likely that the North American hot dog comes from a widespread common European sausage brought here by butchers of several nationalities."

Though hot dogs, french fries and barbecued treats are typical Fourth of July fare nowadays, our Founding Fathers feasted on some pretty different foods to celebrate the country's independence back in the day. "According to legend, on July 4, 1776, John Adams…and his wife, Abigail, sat down for a celebratory meal of turtle soup, New England poached salmon with egg sauce, green peas and boiled new potatoes in jackets. They followed the meal with Indian pudding or Apple Pandowdy,

Is Pennsylvania the country's most patriotic state? According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the so-called "State of Independence," where the Declaration of Independence was debated and signed, is home to 11 places with the word "liberty" in their name and 33 with the word "union" in them, leading the country for the number of places with such names. (Only one place in the nation has "patriot" in its name, according to the bureau. Patriot, Ind., is said to have an estimated population of 209.)

In a letter to his daughter Sarah Bache in 1784, Benjamin Franklin wrote that he was displeased that the bald eagle had been chosen as the symbol for the nation. "He is a Bird of bad moral character. He does not get his Living honestly," he wrote. "You may have seen him perched on some dead Tree near the River, where, too lazy to fish for himself, he watches the Labour of the Fishing Hawk." A turkey, Franklin went on to argue, is a far "more respectable" bird. "Turk'y… [is a] true original Native of America,"

Due to concerns about cracking the iconic instrument, the Liberty Bell has not been rung since 1846. Instead, every year, to mark the Fourth of July, the 2,000-pound bell is tapped 13 times to signal for bells across the country to start ringing.