Fun Stats About Independence from the British Empire to Impress Fellow Nerds at Your 4th of July Celebration

Here are some facts to share at your 4th of July celebration that will make everyone love you. (Or inspire them to declare independence from you and breakaway violently, almost like a spontaneous Revolutionary War reenactment. So, a win in either case).

When the US declared independence in 1776, its population was less than 3 million. It's now 333 million. No one talks about what a huge audience the BBC lost with the revolution. It's little wonder that the British sent an invasion in the 1960s with the Beatles, Kinks and Rolling Stones - an attempt to reclaim a lost audience. 333 million people is nearly 666 million ears.

Britain had 26 colonies in North America but it was just the 13 that declared independence in 1776 and broke away to eventually unite as states. (Leaving colonies like Jamaica and Nova Scotia to remain British.) I feel like their retention of 50% of their American colonies is a stat that too rarely gets acknowledged.

The next country to gain independence from Britain is one that the US has tried to occupy itself a couple of times since: Afghanistan in 1919.

The US was just the first of 63 countries to successfully declare their independence from Britain. Six others gained independence from evolution rather than revolution. Countries that chose evolution include Australia, Canada, and Ireland.

On average, all throughout the year another country celebrates its independence from Britain every 5 days. Imagine being King Charles and having to scurry around the globe every week to appear at yet another independence day celebration, putting on a brave face as you plead with former colonialists, "Please come back! We will love you better this time."

The combined population of the countries that will be celebrating an "independence from Britain!" day this year is 2.9 billion - about 44X the population of the UK.