By Staff Writer (media@latinospost.com) | First Posted: Jul 05, 2015 09:16 PM EDT

Millions of Americans gathered and celebrated 239 years of freedom on July 4, 2015. Aside from being an independent nation, people also held parades and special events on Saturday for other reasons.

New York Times reported that hundreds of thousands went to the East River of New York City to witness the annual Macy’s Fourth of July fireworks show. The display was broadcast on NBC. For years, the Macy’s fireworks show has been deemed one of the biggest in the country, which was why police officers and emergency units were on standby throughout.

At the White House South Lawn in Washington, President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama also gave credits to United States servicemen, saying that they are the reason why Americans enjoy incredible blessings. Obama said that freedom is not free but paid for by all military men and women. Bruno Mars performed at the concert at the venue, followed by a fireworks display over the National Mall.

In Philadelphia, New York Times cited that gay rights activists grouped together to honor the progress of their movement as well as pay respect to those who started it 50 years ago. The activists contemplated on one of the earliest gay rights marches held in the same location by 40 people on July 5, 1965.

Several other fun events and activities were also held in various states such as spitting contests, hotdog eating contests and concerts, among others.

For others, Independence Day is a celebration of “American Exceptionalism.” Barack Obama said before that he believes in such notion, although he suspected that the Brits and Greeks also believe in their own exceptionalism.

"I'm enormously proud of my country and its role and history in the world. I see no contradiction between believing that America has a continued extraordinary role in leading the world towards peace and prosperity and recognizing that that leadership is incumbent, depends on, our ability to create partnerships because we create partnerships because we can't solve these problems alone,” said Obama in a report by CS Monitor.

Although there are several Americans who deeply understand why people celebrated the Fourth of July every year, there are also many who remain clueless, based on a report by American Clarion. In one video, Mark Dice started interviewing random individuals to ask why they think July 4 is a special day. Many failed to answer the question properly, except for one Italian who was vacationing in the United States at the time.

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