07/04/2026
Happy Fourth of July! On this day in 1776, the Continental Congress formally adopted the Declaration of Independence, announcing the American colonies’ separation from Great Britain and giving birth to a new nation.
A volunteer at Britain's National Archives has discovered a rare 1776 printing of the Declaration of Independence, one of only 11 surviving "Exeter Declarations" and the only copy known outside the United States.
The document was seized on Christmas Eve 1776 when the Royal Navy captured the American privateer Dalton off Portugal after a seven-hour chase. Logged simply as "another paper," it sat unnoticed for 250 years.
"Exeter Declarations" are a specific batch of early printed copies of the Declaration of Independence, produced by printer Robert Luist Fowle in Exeter, New Hampshire, between July 16 and 19, 1776, roughly two weeks after the original was adopted in Philadelphia on July 4.
Volunteer Michael Scurr found it while cataloguing Navy correspondence. It will go on display in the Archives' Revolution 250 exhibition, running through November.
Happy Independence Day! On this day in 1845, a convention assembled in Austin to consider the congressional resolution proposing the annexation of the Republic of Texas to the United States. The delegates accepted the proposal by a vote of 55-1.
