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Happy Independence Day!

The Fourth of July Fun Facts 2012

courtesy of http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/cb12-ff12.html

On this day in 1776, the Declaration of Independence was approved by the Continental Congress, setting 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.

2.5 million

In July 1776, the estimated number of people living in the newly independent nation.
Source: Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970<http://www2.census.gov/prod2/statcomp/documents/HistoricalStatisticsoftheUnitedStates1789-1945.pdf>

313.9 million

The nation's estimated population on this July Fourth.
Source: Population clock <http://www.census.gov/main/www/popclock.html>

Patriotic-Sounding Place Names

Thirty-one places have “liberty” in their names. The most populous one as of April 1, 2010, was Liberty, Mo. (29,149). Iowa, with four, has more of these places than any other state: Libertyville, New Liberty, North Liberty and West Liberty.

Thirty-five places have “eagle” in their names. The most populous one is Eagle Pass, Texas, with a population of 26,248.

Eleven places have “independence” in their names. The most populous one is Independence, Mo., with a population of 116,830.

Nine places have “freedom” in their names. The most populous one is New Freedom, Pa., with a population of 4,464.

One place has “patriot” in its name. Patriot, Ind., has a population of 209.

Five places have “America” in their names. The most populous is American Fork, Utah, with a population of 26,263.

Source: American FactFinder <http://www.census.gov>

Fourth of July Cookouts

Almost 1 in 3

The chance that the hot dogs and pork sausages consumed on the Fourth of July originated in Iowa. The Hawkeye State was home to 19.7 million hogs and pigs on March 1, 2012. This estimate represents almost one-third of the nation's estimated total. North Carolina (8.6 million) and Minnesota (7.6 million) were also homes to large numbers of pigs.
Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, <http://usda01.library.cornell.edu/usda/current/HogsPigs/HogsPigs-03-30-2012.pdf>

7.2 billion pounds

Total production of cattle and calves in Texas in 2011. Chances are good that the beef hot dogs, steaks and burgers on your backyard grill came from the Lone Star State, which accounted for about one-sixth of the nation's total production. And if the beef did not come from Texas, it very well may have come from Nebraska (4.6 billion pounds) or Kansas (4.0 billion pounds).
Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service <http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/usda/current/MeatAnimPr/MeatAnimPr-04-26-2012.pdf>

6

Number of states in which the value of broiler chicken production was estimated at $1 billion or greater between December 2010 and November 2011. There is a good chance that one of these states — Georgia, Arkansas, North Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi or Texas — is the source of your barbecued chicken.
Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service<http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/usda/current/PoulProdVa/PoulProdVa-04-26-2012.pdf>

Please Pass the Potato

Potato salad and potato chips are popular food items at Fourth of July barbecues. Approximately half of the nation's spuds were produced in Idaho or Washington state in 2011.
Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service <http://usda01.library.cornell.edu/usda/current/CropProdSu/CropProdSu-01-12-2012.pdf>

Posted at 08:40AM Jul 04, 2012 by Perry (Editor@USAB2C.com) in U.S.A. Traditions  |  Comments[0]