Now That The Celebrations Are Over,

I have to say I made a mistake,

I had always thought that the Declaration of Independence was signed on 2nd. of July 1776, but of course it was not, independence was formally declared on July 2, 1776, a date that John Adams believed would be 'the most memorable epocha in the history of America,'  it was actually signed on August 2, 1776, so where does the date 4th of July come from,? it was because on July 4, 1776, Congress approved the final text of the Declaration, this is one of the most widely held misconceptions about the Declaration of Independence, that it was signed on July 4, 1776, 

but going back to when the Declaration was signed on August 2, 1776, there were several people who signed on later dates, some of these late signers included Elbridge Gerry, Oliver Wolcott, Lewis Morris, Thomas McKean and Matthew Thornton and of course three delegates never signed the Declaration of Independence at all, John Dickinson (Pennsylvania) had voted against the document and wanted to find a resolution with Great Britain so he refused to sign, Thomas Lynch could not sign because he was deathly ill and back home, oddly, Robert Livingston, one of the original members of the Committee of Five never signed because he was in New York at the time, so I propose for next year there should be a party on both dates!