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On 4 July the Americans celebrate Independence Day. On that day in 1776 the National Congress adopted the American Declaration of Independence. With this statement, the Americans declared themselves independent of the British monarchy.

The document was for the most part written by President Jefferson. In the document he started from the natural equality of all people on earth and their right to life, freedom and the pursuit of happiness. The adoption of the Declaration of Independence meant the official beginning of the American nation.

Many settlers were of the opinion that they were better off without the British. They would use the colonies and subordinate the interests of the settlers to those of the European inhabitants of the British empire. The heavy taxes were the settlers, who in many cases had just travelled to the New World because they wanted more freedom, very painful. Initially, it was mainly politically protested, but in the end the conflict ended in a weapon of arms: the American War of Independence from 1775 till 1783. The adoption of the American Declaration of Independence was an important moment in this.

An interesting fact is that there are 56 signatures under the declaration, but one is remarkably large. That is the signature of John Hancock. At that time he was the chairman of the Continental Congress that adopted the Declaration of Independence. Because he was the chairman he may place his signature first on the famous document. Compared to the many other signatures on the statement, his signature is the biggest one. Hancock wrote his name deliberately large, so King George III of England could read it too. However, Hancock always wrote his name big on documents when he had to put his name down. Therefor is in America nowadays 'John Hancock' a synonym for 'signature'.

For the American people it is still an important occurrence. On 4 July, Independence Day, throughout the whole country are organised festivals with fireworks, parades and concerts. The 4th of July is, next to Christmas, the only official day off for Americans. That’s why it will be celebrate every year so big.

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In 1957 a war broke out between North and South Vietnam. The North Vietnamese army was supported by the Vietcong and South Vietnam was supported by America. America support South Vietnam because they don’t want that Vietnam became communist. Ngo Dinh Diem was in power in South Vietnam. When the war continued, it became clear that Diem held a dictatorial regime. He mainly supported Catholic minorities and he did nothing about poverty and corruption. The Americans insisted on the South Vietnamese on a coup, which took the life of Diem in 1963.

In 1964 President Johnson asked for more powers for the military in Vietnam. The Congress agreed, which meant that the Americans had a military license in Vietnam. Since then, the number of American soldiers in Vietnam has grown rapidly. However, the Vietcong turned out to be a tough opponent who did not get the US under control. The opponents of the war protested with large numbers against the military action of the Americans in Vietnam.

The reason for the eventual withdrawal of the American militaries from Vietnam was the Tet-offensive of 1968. The Vietcong attacked important South Vietnamese posts for months in order to surprise the enemy. The Americans hit hard, causing the Vietcong severely weakened. In America was an increasing demand for withdrawal of the American militaries from Vietnam. Most people saw the senseless of the war. Eventually, in 1968, President Johnson decided to phase out American troops and agreed to peace negotiations. In 1975 all US troops from Vietnam had disappeared.

58,226 Americans died or were missing after the War. American war veterans from that war are faced with physical and psychological problems. Soldiers left as heroes, but were not brought in as heroes. Losing the war in Vietnam gave the Americans the feeling that their power was waning. This is an important historical occurrence.

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Everyone knows the stories of Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Snowwhite and the Seven Dwarfs. All these stories have been conceived by one person, namely Walter Elias Disney, better known as Walt Disney. This is one of the biggest brand names of all time. He works as an director, animator, entrepreneur and producer. He wanted to make fairytales a reality, and he succeeded.

Walter Elias Disney, or Walt Disney, was born in Chicago on 5 December 1901 in an farm family. Disney develops a love of drawing and tries to find work as a cartoonist. In an old garage he starts a small graphic company when he was twenty year. Together with his brother Roy, he moved for work to Hollywood. Universal Studios hires them as producers of the successful animation series ‘Oswald the Lucky Rabbit’.

After a business quarrel the brothers decide to start their own business. In 1928 Disney Studio with ‘Steamboat Willie’ achieved their first great success. In the first animated film with sound, Mortimer Mouse, now better known as Mickey Mouse was Disney be heard as Mickey Mouse. In 1930 the Disney Studio was already a huge success. The perfectionism of the brothers Disney lead to a big growth of their business. With the first animation feature film ‘Snow White and the seven dwarfs’ in 1937 they win an Oscar and seven small Oscars. The films follow each other in rapid succession, with great success. Disney had one other big dream, bring his films to life. The fantasy becomes reality in 1957 with the opening of Disneyland in California, the first amusement park in the world.

Disney died of lung cancer in 1966. During his lifetime he makes more than eighty films and wins 32 Academy Awards. But even after his death, his work is still alive. So Disney is not only a great person in America but over the whole world. Everyone knows about Disney.

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Neil Armstrong, better known as the first man who walked on the moon, was Born the 5th of August 1930 in Ohio, America. When he was a child, he moved a lot, which resulted in his love of flying. At his sixteenth birthday he earned a student flight certificate and later that month his soloed. Think about the fact that he could fly earlier than drive a car..

When Armstrong was 19-years-old he was called up for the Navy, he served 8 years for the Navy. After serving for the Navy he picked up his study again. When he was graduated, Armstrong became a test pilot, this means; a pilot who flies an aircraft to test its performance.

In 1962, when Armstrong was 32-years-old, he changed jobs. He was hired at NASA as an astronaut. He was together with Elliot See the first civilian astronaut. He did various programs for the Nasa, like Gemini 5, Gemini 8, Gemini 11, Apollo 1, Apollo 8, Apollo 9 and the most important one Apollo 11, the mission to the moon.

In 1971, a year after his journey to the moon he stopped working as an astronaut. He was going to teach Aerospace Engineering at University. He has done this for 8 years.

In 2012 Armstrong underwent a bypass surgery on. Although he was reportedly recovering well, he developed complications in the hospital and died on August 25, in Ohio, at the age of 82.

Armstrong was for America an important person, because it almost never succeeded in completing a mission well. It costs billions of dollars every mission that America did. They also got the setback that Russia had the first astronaut in space, so they absolutely wanted to have the first astronaut on the moon. And this was successful. Armstrong will be always remembered as the first man who walked on the moon.