Question: Which two U.S. presidents died on the Fourth of July, on the very same day, exactly 50 years after the Declaration of Independence was adopted?
Answer: On July 4, 1826—exactly 50 years after the adoption of the Declaration—Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, two of its authors and former presidents, both died within hours of each other. Adams’ reported last words were “Thomas Jefferson survives,” unaware that Jefferson had died earlier that day. Their extraordinary coincidence remains one of the most remarkable historical footnotes in American political history.
