Fireworks, watermelon, hot dogs and beer may do it for everyone else, but no self-respecting history fanatic can survive the 4th of July without a good smash-bang reading of the Declaration of Independence, presented first on this day 235 years ago,  in 1776.   I give you three choices.   Pick your favorite and enjoy:


First, traditional, by an unidentified (though heroic) re-enacter in Philadelphia:

Next, jazzy, by The Fifth Dimension (1970):

Finally, Hollywood, by actors including Mel Gibson, Michael Douglas, Whoopi Goldberg, and others.