America Celebrates Its 250th Birthday Amid Record Heat Wave and Historic Fireworks

A Milestone Anniversary

July 4th celebrations marked America's 250th birthday, with Americans celebrating 250 years of independence with events including the largest fireworks display in history. The celebrations came as NPR member station reporters across the U.S. asked people how they are thinking about their country on its semiquincentennial.

Historic Heat Wave Challenges

This July Fourth was the hottest on record for millions of Americans as a massive heat wave trapped more than half of the United States under a heat dome through the holiday weekend. The heat wave sweeping the eastern U.S. was expected to peak Friday and Saturday, forecasters said, as dangerously high temperatures continued to ramp up from the Midwest to the East Coast.

Between daily high temperatures and warm overnight lows, more than 300 records were expected to be set by Saturday. More than 185 million people were under heat alerts Friday, including residents of multiple major metropolitan areas, like Boston, New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., according to the National Weather Service.

Record-Breaking Fireworks Display

When the sun goes down on Independence Day, the skies of Washington, D.C., were expected to fill with a record-setting 850,000 individual fireworks for a 40-minute spectacle like no one has seen before. The Fourth of July celebrations in Washington, D.C., were deemed a "national special security event," which is the highest possible designation.

National Security Measures

The Coast Guard surged resources to help secure July 4 celebrations in Washington, D.C., and around the country, according to the head of the agency. Despite the extreme conditions, Americans across all 50 states found ways to commemorate the historic anniversary.