Time to bust out your DIY fireworks kit and celebrate Independence Day!

In 1776, the Untied States (they weren’t united yet, they were just some colonies) declared their independence from Britain. You may remember from your 7th grade history class that the colonists did not like paying taxes to King George.

King George told the colonists that he was going to build a football stadium with their tax dollars. The colonists were mega pumped for this because even Americans in 1776 loved football! But then colonial big wig Benjamin Franklin saw the blueprints and realized it was a soccer stadium, and the colonists were PO’ed!

Scholar and gentleman Ben Franklin wrote a letter back to King George saying they wanted a football stadium. King George was confused because that’s what he was trying to build; he didn’t realize that the colonists had invented a new word for football and the word “football” now meant something completely different! Should have looked it up on Urban Dictionary, King George!

In an exchange “even more cringy than that ‘who’s on first’ bit,” according to prominent historians, the original Big Ben and King George exchanged snail mail letters arguing about football. King George tried to send an olive branch by shipping thousands of footballs to the colonies. Unfortunately the footballs he sent were actually soccer balls! When the ship arrived in Boston, Sam Adams and his drunk pals hulked out and chucked every last soccer ball into Boston Harbor.

But don’t worry! Things seem to be patched up between the USA and UK! Folks in Britain even welcome some NFL American football games in London. Now isn’t that worth celebrating!

But take it from our friend Jason Pierre-Paul: firework safety is important, so have a responsible celebration.