July 4, 1776—the day the Declaration of Independence was approved by the Continental Congress. On this date, the original thirteen colonies started down the road to becoming a sovereign nation.

The United States Constitution—the document that emerged from the 1787 Philadelphia Convention is the oldest national constitution in the world.

In July 1776 the estimated number of people living in the newly declared independent nation was 2.5 million. Today the population is over 300 million.

More than 74 million Americans said they have taken part in a barbeque during the previous year. It's a good bet that a lot of those took place on Independence Day.

In 2007, $4.7million was the value of U.S. imports of American flags, the vast majority of which were made in China.

The number of cities nationwide with "liberty" in their name is thirty-one. There are also thirty-one places named "eagle." Twelve places have "independence" in their names, and nine containing the word "freedom." And there is even one place named "Patriot."

DÉJÀ VU by Samantha Gentry, a romantic suspense from The Wild Rose Press (www.thewildrosepress.com) Excerpt #1:

Alexandra Caldwell shivered, hunching her shoulders against the stiff ocean breeze as the boat pulled up to the dock at Skull Island. Even the name left her uneasy…Skull Island. It sounded like a sinister place inhabited by pirates, thugs, and other undesirables.

She glanced up at the angry storm clouds darkening the sky to the point where it seemed more like evening than eleven o’clock in the morning. Another tremor of apprehension washed through her body. Ever since she was a little girl, thunder and lightning had frightened her. But as much as she wanted to blame the approaching storm for her uneasiness, it wasn’t solely responsible.

She forced her attention to the tall man standing dockside as he grabbed the line thrown to him and secured the vessel. He extended his hand to help her out of the boat. The instant they made physical contact, a potent arc of energy raced through her body followed by a moment of panic. The hair on her arms stood on end. Her mouth went dry and her throat tried to close.

The vision exploded in her mind. Mud…a wall of mud sliding down an embankment toward her. A fleeting glance of an out-of-focus face that turned into a human skull. Then a skeleton. And a second skeleton. She jerked her hand from his grasp while trying to force a calm to her momentary panic.

She didn’t know how to control her psychic abilities and didn’t always understand what the strange images, feelings, and dreams meant. However, she did know when they tried to tell her something important and this was definitely one of those times.

The man cocked his head to one side. A slight frown wrinkled across his brow as he stared at her with a quizzical expression. “Is something wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

She quickly recovered her composure, at least outwardly, and extended a businesslike smile. “No, nothing is wrong. Just a little spark of static electricity, I guess. It must have something to do with…” she glanced up at the threatening sky as a shiver of anxiety swept through her. “…uh, this approaching storm.”

She returned her attention to the man, her demeanor all business. “I’m Alexandra Caldwell. Mr. Talbot is expecting me.”

“I’m Gable Talbot.”

“You’re Gable Talbot?” She couldn’t hide her surprise. This man whose touch had sparked a disturbing sequence of frightening images was not at all what she had anticipated the owner of Skull Island would look like. Long and Short Romance Reviews
reviewed by Camellia
May 3, 2010 She said...

Thanks for the trivia about the US. It's shocking that we're not making our own flags in the US, but importing it. Sad, just think of the people who could have jobs making our flag.
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