00:00Today is the 4th of July in the United States.
00:03Hello to my fellow Americans celebrating Independence Day.
00:07And then next Sunday, the French will also celebrate their national day.
00:12And Solange Mugen is here in the studio with us to break down some of the traditions on
00:16both sides of the Atlantic.
00:17And notice that you are dressed appropriately for both the U.S. and France in red, white
00:22and blue.
00:23Nice choice.
00:24Red, white and blue.
00:25Bleu, blanc, rouge.
00:26That's right.
00:27So Solange, let's start with the U.S.
00:29It's 4th of July.
00:30What are Americans actually doing today?
00:33Well, as we both know, and in all seriousness, what are they doing today?
00:36Well, they're mostly eating.
00:38For years, it has been about hot dogs and hamburgers and potato salad and coleslaw and
00:42apple pie and watermelon.
00:45Families generally gather to have a barbecue or a picnic.
00:48And you see this love of food even in some of the niche traditions that are around today.
00:53In New York City, for example, there's an annual hot dog eating contest on the 4th.
00:57It's now in its 108th edition.
01:00It's been making headlines actually this year because it's Starr who won 16 times and broke
01:05the world record for eating 76 hot dogs in 10 minutes.
01:09Well, he won't be participating because he signed an endorsement deal with a plant-based
01:14or a non-meat meat company.
01:17Over the dispute, New York City's mayor called for all parties to stop being weenies, which
01:22is a pretty amazing pun.
01:24But that controversy aside, nationwide, over 150 million hot dogs will be consumed today
01:30alone.
01:31For many Americans, as this expat in France explained, it is a day to be with family.
01:37And there is a...
01:38It's a national holiday, and we don't have a lot of them in the U.S., so it's a good
01:42thing.
01:43Otherwise, it's a day to go out with your family, have a picnic like this one.
01:47We also play softball.
01:49I see it.
01:52Now the fourth is also embodied by pyrotechnics, for fireworks are, for the most part, legal
01:57in nearly all of the United States.
01:59Now, of course, there are lavish displays in most major cities, but many families also
02:04fire them off at home.
02:06But this enthusiasm, which has actually created a $2 billion industry, well, it also makes
02:11the holiday quite a dangerous one.
02:14In 2022, there were over 10,000 trips to the ER during the holiday, and three-fourths of
02:19those were because of fireworks.
02:21A third were of the firework industry's injuries were actually children.
02:26So outdoor meals, yes, but it's best to steer clear, if possible, of fireworks or at least
02:31be careful.
02:32You are making me nostalgic.
02:33For injuries aside, you're making me nostalgic and a little bit homesick, Solange.
02:38There is a third tradition that really embodies Independence Day, which is parades.
02:42Yeah, like in many countries, military parades are a standard on such holidays.
02:47And actually in Rwanda, for example, they're celebrating Liberation Day today, and they're
02:51doing it with a military parade.
02:53But back to the U.S.
02:55In Washington, D.C., there is an annual parade, but also in small towns and cities, local
03:01officials, first responders, they often parade through Main Street with communities waving
03:06flags.
03:07And sometimes people are even dressed up as founding fathers, Native Americans, or revolutionary
03:12soldiers.
03:13And this one has everything to do with the origin of Independence Day, for it commemorates
03:18July 4th, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress officially adopted the Declaration
03:25of Independence.
03:26Now, this secession from Britain was actually signed two days earlier on July 2nd.
03:32And for history, for the history trivia, the one and only president who refused to celebrate
03:37it on the 4th of July, well, it was John Adams.
03:40This is the U.S.'s second president.
03:42He turned down invitations to festivities on the 4th because he was adamant that celebrations
03:48should be on the 2nd, the day the document was signed, but not yet adopted.
03:53But this tidbit does not end there.
03:55Adams actually ended up dying on the 4th of July in 1826, which was the 50th anniversary.
04:02And to boot, he was not the only U.S. president to die on that day.
04:06Thomas Jefferson, who drafted much of the Declaration and became the U.S.'s third president,
04:11well, he also died on the 50th anniversary, which for many Americans at the time, they
04:16felt it was often a sign of the importance, a sign from who knows where, of what happened
04:22on in July 1776.
04:24And so on 14 years after that, there would be another significant gathering, this time
04:30in France.
04:31Yeah, and it was actually the first time an American, a U.S. flag was flown abroad in
04:36a foreign country.
04:37And so on July 14th, 1790, there was an inaugural gathering on the Champs-de-Mars in Paris and
04:43it was called La Fête de la Fédération.
04:46And it was celebrating the French Revolution, which had begun a year earlier, but also the
04:50fact that advances had been made, that France would become a constitutional monarchy led
04:55by a National Assembly.
04:56Now, of course, violent days were ahead with the toppling of the monarchy, but at that
05:01point there was a bit of calm and across France, people celebrated this movement forward
05:08and how a year also, and how a year earlier on July 14th, 1789, insurgents stormed the
05:15Bastille prison.
05:16Now today, Bastille Day, as we say in English, but it's important to note the French do not
05:21call it this.
05:22They call it the Quatre-Juillet or Fête Nationale.
05:25It is made up of some of the same traditions that the 4th of July has.
05:29There is, of course, a major military parade, fireworks as well.
05:34There isn't as much focus on food though, but there is focus on dancing.
05:38Here in France, there's something called the Balle des Pompiers or the Fireman's Ball.
05:43It's on the 13th or the 14th of July, it depends, and people go out to local firehouses and
05:49have a big, basically a big dance party.
05:52The legend is that these parties began in 1837 in Montmartre, but actually it's likely
05:57to be a lot older than that, originating as an August celebration of Napoleon's birthday.
06:03But when Bastille Day became France's national holiday in the 1880s, well, the letting loose
06:09at fire stations came with it.
06:11Today, the parties, which raise funds for firehouses, well, they have this reputation
06:16of being a wild ladies' night out.
06:21I heard that the firemen are sexy and that there's a good atmosphere, so I followed the
06:24group and I don't regret it.
06:27How long will you stay?
06:28Until the show.
06:29I have to see the firemen do their striptease.
06:34Are you all good?
06:35Yes, we're great.
06:38So I have a confession to make.
06:39I have never actually been to a fireman's ball, but I have been told that they are not
06:44necessarily as wild as the images that we just saw, that sometimes, at least early in
06:49the evening, they are a family gathering as well.
06:53I should try one one day.
06:55Personally, though, I'm a big fan of watching the fireworks of the Tour Eiffel, of the Eiffel
07:00Tower.
07:01I personally like to watch it from afar, from a park afar, so I can avoid the crowds but
07:06see the beauty of it.
07:07Well, I think we've got to get you to a fireman's ball this year.
07:10I think so.
07:11I think so.
07:12We should.
07:13I should.
07:14I should.
07:15Maybe the earlier part.
07:16Yeah, exactly.
07:17At least the early part.
07:18Not the late night disco.
07:19We'll leave that for the kids.
07:20All right.
07:21Solange Mijon, thank you so much for that history lesson.
07:23I learned a lot.
07:24I appreciate it.
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