More on September 11 vs. 9/11; Happy Fourth of July

I hope all of my American readers had a happy Independence Day.

I have posted previously on the reasons why the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks on the United States should not be abbreviated “9/11.”  See September 11 vs. 9/11, from April of 2009, http://williamcinfici.blogspot.com/2009/04/september-11-vs-911.html and Personal Reflections on the Tenth Anniversary of the September 11 Attacks, from September of 2011, http://williamcinfici.blogspot.com/2011/09/personal-reflections-on-tenth.html.  The Independence Day holiday caused me to think of another reason why “9/11” is inappropriate: the holiday is usually nicknamed the “Fourth of July” or referred to simply as “July 4,” but never as “7/4.”

Also, I shall take the opportunity to expound on a point about Independence Day I first made on that holiday in a post in 2009.  The Fourth of July represents neither the birthday of the “United States,” nor of the “Country” or “Nation” but the anniversary of the declaration of independence from the United Kingdom of the 13 original American States.  Note: the Continental Congress had approved the resolution of independence on July 2; some States had already declared their independence.  One could say it is the “birthday” of American independence, but the federal union known as the “United States of America” did not exist until 1789, upon the ratification of the U.S. Constitution.