Before you start to celebrate the holiday with our 4th of July ideas and you fire up the grill for a meal made with our fantastic burger recipes and other 4th of July recipes, take a few minutes to check out these 4th of July facts you probably never knew. Brush up on your history trivia this holiday. As you set out to watch the fireworks this Independence Day, you'll impress your friends and family with your knowledge about July 4th.

These 4th of July trivia tidbits will shine a light on the true meaning behind the holiday and ignite your interest in American history. Prepare to be impressed — some of these facts were news to us too!

Four others were also on the committee: Roger Sherman, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and Robert Livingston.

He made his mark in the center and it's the largest signature on the document, likely because he was President of Congress at the time, according to the National Archives. His bold signature is the reason people use the phrase "put your John Hancock" when referring to signing your name.

Although the document was dated July 4, congress actually voted for independence from Great Britain two days prior on July 2, 1776. It apparently wasn’t signed by everyone until August 2, 1776.

He was obviously right — in his letter, he said the day should be celebrated with parades, bonfires and fireworks.

It came out in the newspaper on July 6, 1776 for everyone to see, after a local printer named John Dunlap produced copies of the declaration's manuscript.

As of July 2017, about 325.7 million people live in the U.S., according to the United States Census.

John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both died on July 4, 1826 — on the 50th anniversary of the country's independence. James Monroe died five years later on July 4, 1831.

Descendants of people who signed the Declaration of Independence tap the bell, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at 2 p.m. eastern time every 4th of July.

The holiday fell on a Sunday in 1779, so the country celebrated on July 5th instead.

Fireworks, canons and bells all went off to honor the 13 original states. Much like modern celebrations, they even had a dinner and parade for the Declaration of Independence's first anniversary.

George Washington helped the troops celebrate by allowing them a double ration of rum, according to Live Science.

According to the American Pyrotechnics Association, the numbers continue to go up every year. The biggest celebration is the Macy's 4th of July Fireworks show, which takes over 8,000 hours to prepare!

According to Live Science, it was seen as unpatriotic if you kept your business open on Independence Day before the Civil War. But after, restaurants and stores starting having sales on red, white and blue merchandise and they've continued to ever since.

According to the U.S. Census, four of them are counties — Georgia, Florida, Montana and Texas have a Liberty County.

That probably helped his presidential campaign, right?

It took nearly 100 years for it to be recognized as such, but when it finally happened it was up in the ranks with Christmas and a few other holidays.

The Constitution was signed in September of 1787, a little over 11 years after the Declaration of Independence. While both are important to U.S. history, they are totally separate documents with different meanings.