Philadelphia, July 4, 1976.
The statue is of George Washington.
July 4, 1776: Approved in a vote 2 days earlier, the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America, written by Thomas Jefferson, is ratified by the Continental Congress at what would become known as Independence Hall in Philadelphia:
Resolved, that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved.
But it would take a war with Britain to make independence official, with the Treaty of Paris signed on September 3, 1783.
July 4, 1776 was a Thursday. Of course, in America at that time, sports existed, but were hardly a major concern. So there is little point in doing a "Scores On This Historic Day" feature for it.
But big deals were made about the major anniversaries of independence: The 50th in 1826, the 100th in 1876, and even the 150th in 1926. Surely, as 2026, the 250th Anniversary, approaches, there will be a big deal made about it.
But the biggest deal was made about the 200th Anniversary. And, after years of turmoil in the 1960s and early 1970s, America needed a break, and a patriotic shot in the arm. And so, the years 1974, 1975 and 1976 were loaded with such events, leading up to Bicentennial Day itself:
July 4, 1976: Bicentennial Day. President Gerald R. Ford gave a speech in front of Independence Hall, then headed up to New York to take part in Operation Sail. It was a nautical parade of tall-masted sailing ships, first done in New York in connection with the 1964 World's Fair.
As is their tradition, the Boston Pops gave an annual concert on the Esplanade along the Charles River, conducted by their aging legend Arthur Fielder, closing with Pytor Tchiakovsky's 1812 Overture, which has nothing to do with America, but whose cannon simulations go well with the show's accompanying fireworks. The National Mall in Washington, D.C. was also home to a fireworks-laden concert. And a salute-to-America show was held at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, hosted by... Canadian singer Paul Anka.
CBS, which had been airing a series of vignettes titled The Bicentennial Minute since 1974, hosted In Celebration of Us, 16 hours of coverage, hosted by their news anchor, Walter Cronkite. ABC did similar programming, with anchor Harry Reasoner. So did NBC, with The Glorious Fourth, with their news anchors, John Chancellor and David Brinkley, followed on the night by Bob Hope's Bicentennial Star-Spangled Spectacular.
July 4, 1976 was a Sunday. It was the off-season for the NFL, the NBA and the NHL. But a full slate of Major League Baseball games was played, including some of what had been a tradition, the holiday doubleheader:
* The New York Yankees beat the Cleveland Indians, 4-3 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Despite giving up 2 home runs to Rico Carty, Dock Ellis was the winning pitcher. The Yankee runs scored on RBI singles by Willie Randolph and Jim Mason in the 2nd inning, and a sacrifice fly by Graig Nettles in the 6th. After giving up Carty's 2nd homer in the bottom of the 9th, Ellis was removed by manager Billy Martin, who brought Sparky Lyle in to slam the door.
* The New York Mets split a doubleheader with the Chicago Cubs at Shea Stadium. The Metropolitans won the opener, 9-4. The Cubbies won the nightcap, 4-2.
* Perhaps oddly, or perhaps wisely, depending on how you look at it, the Philadelphia Phillies were away from home on Bicentennial Day. They split a doubleheader with the Pittsburgh Pirates at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. The Phils won the 1st game 10-5, and the Bucs won the 2nd game 7-1.
* The defending, and soon to be back-to-back, World Champion Cincinnati Reds beat the Houston Astros, 7-2 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.
* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Detroit Tigers, 7-4 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.
* In the day's only extra-inning game, the Chicago White Sox beat the Texas Rangers, 7-6. Before the game, White Sox owner Bill Veeck played the wounded fife player alongside two drummers, re-creating the famous Spirit of '76 painting by Archibald Willard, as they walked around the field at Comiskey Park. Jorge Orta singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 12th. Right before the next season started, the Yankees, unhappy with the lack of production from shortstops Mason and Fred Stanley, traded for the player who scored the winning run in this game: Bucky Dent.
This was the opener of a doubleheader. In the 2nd game, the Rangers won, 3-2.
* The Boston Red Sox beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 3-1 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Hank Aaron, in his final major league season, did not play for the Brewers.
* A doubleheader was split at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. The California Angels won the opener, 5-3. The Minnesota Twins won the nightcap, 9-5.
* The only team then in the major leagues representing a city outside the United States, the Montreal Expos, was within the United States, beating the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-3 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.
* The Oakland Athletics beat the Kansas City Royals, 6-0 at Royals (now Kauffman) Stadium in Kansas City. Mike Norris pitched a 3-hit shutout.
* The San Diego Padres beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
* And the San Francisco Giants beat the Atlanta Braves, 3-2 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.
Also in commemoration of the Bicentennial, Philadelphia, the city of independence, was awarded the hosting for various major sporting events in 1976. The 1st was fictional: According to the film Rocky, on New Year's Day, The Spectrum hosted the Heavyweight Championship fight between Champion Apollo Creed and local challenger Rocky Balboa. On Thanksgiving Night, November 26, The Spectrum hosted the rematch shown in Rocky II, in which Rocky avenged his "defeat" from the 1st film.
In real life, The Spectrum also hosted the NBA & NHL All-Star Games, and the NCAA Final Four, with Indiana ending Rutgers' undefeated season in the Semifinal, and then completing their own by beating Michigan in the Final. Veterans Stadium hosted the MLB All-Star Game.
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Out of curiosity, I looked it up to see where some of the major musical acts of the time played that day or night:
* Frank Sinatra: No show. He probably spent the day with his family at home in Palm Springs, California.
* Elvis Presley: The Mabee Center, on the campus of Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
* The former Beatles: None had any shows. Paul McCartney had wrapped up his Wings Over America tour on June 23. This included May 24 and 26 at Madison Square Garden. Paul did, however, have the Number 1 song in America at the time: "Silly Love Songs." And what's wrong with that?
* Bob Dylan: No show. He had closed his Rolling Thunder Revue in May.
* The Beach Boys: The Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.
* The Rolling Stones: No show. They had just concluded a tour of Europe on June 23.
* The Who: No show. They Were in between legs of a world tour, and would soon arrive in America.
* Led Zeppelin: No show.
* The Grateful Dead: No show. They concluded a stand in Chicago on June 29, and would start one in their hometown of San Francisco on July 12.
* Stevie Wonder: No show. He was finishing up what might be his best album, Songs In the Key of Life.
* Elton John: Schaefer Stadium in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts, then the home of the New England Patriots.
* Paul Simon. No show. Sales-wise, it was a good year for him. But he only played 2 concerts the entire calendar year.
* Neil Diamond: The Aladdin Casino & Hotel in Las Vegas. He was already into the "Jewish Elvis" phase of his career, but it would be 1980 before he recorded a song heard every 4th if July since: "(They're Coming to) America."
* The Eagles: Tampa Stadium, then the home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
* Billy Joel: No show. He could have used the rest, as he'd done stands at the Bottom Line in New York and for The Mike Douglas Show at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia in June, and would be opening for the aforementioned Beach Boys starting on July 12.
* Bruce Springsteen: Not surprisingly, he and the E Street Band played the place that made each other famous, the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, Monmouth County, New Jersey.
* Michael Jackson: No show. The last tour under the name The Jackson Five had been played in February, entirely in the Philippines.
And what about me? Where was I on Bicentennial Day? There was a carnival at the Middlesex County Fairgrounds in my hometown of East Brunswick, New Jersey, followed by a fireworks show. Here's a picture of me that day, age 6.
Note the red, white & blue shirt for the occasion. The object here was to find a penny in a haystack. I don't know how many pennies were in that haystack, but I didn't find one. I've been allergic to hay ever since.