Saturday, July 4, 2009

Independence Day



In the song "Yankee Doodle," why did Yankee Doodle stick a feather in his cap and cal in macaroni? Th eline refers not to the pasta but to the Macaroni Club, a mid-eighteenth-century English social club of dandyish young men who wanted to bring the influences of the Continent to bear on their home country. Thus the line was originally intended to discredit the American revolutionaries.

Did Betsy Ross design the American Flag? No, it was designed by Francis Hopkinson, a naval flag designer, who was never reimburesed for his services by teh US Government. And there is no record of Betsy Ross 's commission to sew the flag.

When did the motto In God We Trust start appearing on US coins? It has appeared on most American coins since about 1864. During the Civil War, rising popular religious sentiment prompted Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase to put the country's faith where its money was. Other slogans suggested were God Our Turst and God and Our Country. The motto is not required by law.