History Today: How America’s Independence story began on the Fourth of July

On July 4, 1776, the delegates of the Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia and adopted the Declaration of Independence. This was the beginning of the United States of America as a country separate from Great Britain and its king.

Since then, July 4 has been celebrated every year in the United States as Independence Day.

Also on this day in 2012, scientists announced that they had discovered the Higgs boson, a particle believed to be responsible for giving mass to nearly all other particles.

As part of Firstpost Explainers’ History Today series, here’s a look at what happened on July 4:

Fourth of July: America attained independence

On this day in 1776, the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence, announcing that the United States of America was no longer under the rule of Great Britain and its king.

This came 442 days after the first shots of the American Revolution were fired at Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts. The move gave the war a stronger purpose and later helped bring France into the conflict in support of the American side.

By the spring of 1776, more people across the colonies had started to support independence. The Continental Congress asked each state to set up its own government, and a group of five men was chosen to prepare a declaration.

Thomas Jefferson of Virginia wrote most of the Declaration of Independence.

Since 1776, Americans have celebrated July 4 as the day their country was born. Celebrations include fireworks, parades, concerts, and family barbecues.

The tradition of celebrating grew even more popular after the War of 1812, when the United States again faced Great Britain.

In 1870, the US Congress declared July 4 a federal holiday. In 1941, the rule was updated to give all federal workers a paid day off.

Today, the American flag is the most recognised symbol of the holiday, and “The Star-Spangled Banner,” the national anthem, is often played during celebrations.

Higgs Boson was discovered

On this day in 2012, scientists made a discovery that helped explain the basic structure of matter: the Higgs boson.

Nearly 50 years after it was first suggested, the Higgs boson was detected by the ATLAS and CMS teams at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (Cern).

The Higgs boson is over 120 times heavier than a proton, making it the second-heaviest known particle. Because of its short lifespan and heavy mass, it cannot be found in nature and can only be created under special conditions in a laboratory.

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC), which began running high-energy experiments in 2010, is the first machine able to produce enough Higgs bosons for study.

The field and particle are named after Peter Higgs of the University of Edinburgh. He proposed the theory explaining how elementary particles gain mass, an idea that could be tested in experiments.

On July 4, 2012, researchers at the LHC announced they had spotted a signal that likely came from a Higgs boson, with a mass between 125 and 126 gigaelectron volts. More studies were needed to be sure, and by March 2013, the discovery was confirmed.

That same year, Peter Higgs and Belgian physicist Francois Englert, who had also worked on the theory, were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics.

This Day, That Year

1802: The United States Military Academy officially opened at West Point, New York.

1826: Fifty years after the Declaration of Independence was adopted, former US presidents John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both died.

1884: The completed Statue of Liberty was officially presented to the US ambassador, honouring the friendship between France and the United States.

1946: The United States and the Philippines signed the Treaty of Manila, recognising Philippine independence.

1997: Nasa’s Mars Pathfinder became the first US spacecraft to land on Mars in over twenty years.

2013: The Statue of Liberty reopened on July 4, eight months after Superstorm Sandy forced it to close.