Philadelphia has always gone big for America’s birthday.
In 1876, to mark the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in our “greene countrie towne,” as William Penn called it, we built a small city in Fairmount Park and hosted 10 million people from 37 countries.
In 1926, the crowds thinned, but our Sesquicentennial occasioned the construction of the Ben Franklin Bridge, the transformation of what is now FDR Park, and the opening of Municipal Stadium, which briefly became a home for the Eagles and later, as JFK Stadium, hosted Live Aid.
Even the Bicentennial in 1976, marred by Mayor Frank Rizzo’s heavy-handed security — he summoned 15,000 National Guard members — still led to the creation of the Mann Center and the African American Museum in Philadelphia, and brought Queen Elizabeth II to town.
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