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The United States Bicentennial was celebrated on Sunday, July 4, 1976, the 200th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.
The commemoration of the bicentennial of the United States of America went on for months. The United States Mint began issuing special bicentennial coinage in 1975 (quarters, half dollars and Eisenhower dollars ) dated "1776-1976." As a result, there aren't any coins of those denominations dated 1975. These coins were also minted throughout 1976.
A special Bicentennial Flag, with a white background and the official Bicentennial Star Emblem was also displayed or flown as part of honor guards and flag poles throughout the United States during that period, usually to the left or below the American Flag.
Festivities included elaborate fireworks displays over major USA cities. Those in Washington, D.C. were presided over by President Gerald Ford and televised nationally. A fleet of tall-masted sailing ships gathered in Boston and New York City for the occasion. The New York event was named Operation Sail (Op Sail) and was the second of five such events to date (1964, 1976, 1986, 1992 and 2000).
Local observances included painting mailboxes and fire hydrants red, white, and blue.
NASA commemorated the bicentennial by painting an American flag and the bicentennial emblem on the side of the Vehicle Assembly Building. The emblem remained until 1998, when it was painted over with the NASA emblem. NASA originally planned for Viking 1 to land on Mars on July 4, but the landing was delayed to a later date.
Many commercial products were marketed in packages tying them to the Bicentennial, usually distinguished by red, white & blue coloring. The official Bicentennial star emblem was trademarked and only allowed to be used on products by paid license.
John Warner, later elected to the United States Senate from Virginia, was director of the Federal office coordinating observances of the Bicentennial.
Related Network Television Programs aired July 3-4, 1976
- Great American History Test (CBS)
- Inventing of America (NBC)
- In Celebration of US (CBS), 14 hour coverage hosted by Walter Cronkite
- Glorious Fourth (NBC), 10 hour coverage
- Great American Birthday Party (ABC), hosted by Harry Reasoner
- Happy Birthday, America (NBC), hosted by Paul Anka
- Bob Hope's Bicentennial Star-Spangled Spectacular (NBC)
- Best of the Fourth (NBC), recap with David Brinkley and John Chancellor
In the months approaching the Bicentennial, Schoolhouse Rock, a series of educational cartoon shorts running on ABC between programs on Saturday mornings, created a sub-series called "History Rock," although the official name was "America Rock." The ten segments covered various aspects of American history and government.
See also
Gallery of images
"United States Bicentennial"