Happy 4th, Houston

Good morning, Houston. In place of the usual Morning Roundup, we've decided to offer you some good, all-American July 4 information to begin your holiday. And ours — we're taking the day off to spend with our families and friends, as we hope you are (you may see a few posts today, but we'll get back to our usual schedule tomorrow).

Before we head out, though, did you know:

• There are 30 places in the country with "Liberty" in their name? The biggest is Liberty, Mo., but the closest one to us is Liberty, Texas, population 8,000-ish, a part of the mighty Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown metro area. Salute!
• According to the Census Bureau, the value of shipments of flags made by U.S. manufacturers in 2002 (the most recent year for which data was available) was $349.2 million. That's way more than the value of imported American flags, which was $5.3 million in 2002 — $5 million worth of those from China.
• Part of the reason flagmaking is such a big business: Federal workers are constantly changing the American flags flying over the U.S. Capitol in Washington. Around 125,000 flags fly over the Capitol every year, with as many as 1,200 being raised and lowered on July 4 alone.
• More than 74 million Americans said they've taken part in a barbecue in the past year, according to the Census Bureau. The nation's bean counters also tell us that Texas produced 6.8 billion pounds of cattle and calves last year, around one-sixth of the country's total production. Remember that as you're scarfing down those burgers and hot dogs tomorrow: There's a one in six chance they're local.
• And a historical note: Anyone know which U.S. presidents died on July 4? The two most famous were Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, both of whom died on July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Adams always predicted he would outlive Jefferson (who was seven years younger), and he did — though Adams' last words were "Thomas Jefferson survives," he didn't know that Jefferson had died a few hours earlier. (James Monroe is the third president to have died on July 4, in 1831.)

Enough with the trivia. Go join your fellow Americans at the grill — but please, not all at once.
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Photo: flickr user Richard-