Happy 4th July!

For all our American DiLiGO buddies, we hope your holiday is awesome!  To those of you not celebrating Independence Day, may the spirit of the holiday be with you!  If you're a 4th July Scrooge, even the least patriotic of you can appreciate that the Leaderboards may be a bit quieter and make your run at Top Spot!

To educate ourselves on this historical day, we've been poring over old encyclopedias (remember those?) in the DiLiGO Archives and in the process of educating ourselves, we've found some fantastic factoids and fallacies about the 4th.  Our DiLiGO buddies are certainly no dummies, so we thought you may appreciate confounding your friends with these fun facts:

On July 4th, 1776 the Declaration of Independence was signed.  Right?  Nope.  This most significant moment in American history actually happened when Congress voted for Independence on July 2nd.  When they took the document to the printers, the 4th July was printed on it.  When that circulated, the 2nd July was forgotten. 


The actual signing of the Declaration only began in August with 56 Delegates from the US States all signing over the next weeks.  The most well-known of these was the President of Congress, John Hancock, who was presumed to have signed first.  His name has since become synonymous with "signature".

While the parades and fireworks are staples of this National Holiday, strange observances have sprung up.  One such celebration is an annual hot dog eating contest in New York, which - legend has it - started to settle a dispute amongst four immigrants as to which was the most patriotic.  It has since grown to having 40,000 spectators watching it live and 1.6 million viewers watching it on cable sports network, ESPN.  The World Record Holder, Joey "Jaws" Chestnut ate 66 hot dogs in 12 minutes at the 2007 event.   You'll find far healthier fare in our Katy's Kitchen Slot Machine with some mouth-watering pay-outs.

Fun Facts:

• Then 1776: 2.5 million people were living in newly independent nation 
• Now 2011:  311.7 million people in USA

• Then 1776:  The Slot would not be invented for another 111 years 
• Now 2011:   You can play Slots in the comfort of your own home

Benjamin Franklin who gave his face (and name) to the $100 bill, at 70 years old,  was the oldest of the signers of the Declaration.  Coincidentally, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams both died on July 4, 1826, 50 years to the day after the historic event.

Hollywood is also in on the Independence Day action.  Independence Day, the 1996 blockbuster starring ex-Fresh Prince Will Smith, sees humanity fighting for freedom against invading aliens ("On July 2nd, they arrive. On July 3rd, they strike. On July 4th, we fight back").  Megastar and couch-jumper, Tom Cruise was Oscar-nominated for his portrayal of Ron Kovic in Oliver Stone's biopic, Born on the Fourth of July, an ironic reference to the historical day. For Hollywood style action on DiLiGO Slots, try Tinsel Town. 

John Adams proclaimed that the day "ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shows, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more".  There you have it, straight from the Second President of the United States. 

Celebrate with Games and play Slots by DiLiGO Games now!  We've got some awesome Holiday Challenges lined up for you:
  
USA Leaderboard Challenge: 1 July 2011 
Vegas Leaderboard Challenge: 1 July 2011

See you on the Leaderboards!