Margaret Hagerty needed nearly 10 years to break her record; see below.

July 4, 1776.

Heard of it?

Marked as Independence Day here in the U.S., it was on that date our Founding Fathers adopted the Declaration of Independence, breaking away from Great Britain. Since then, Americans have spent generations emulating the daring triumphs of Thomas Jefferson, John Hancock, et al. in their own ways. Some of them have taken this spirit to the extreme, staking their claim to history by breaking a variety of world records on the Fourth of July.

Infographic 2013: a Fourth of July look at how America is broken down by record holders

Here, then, are seven records broken by Americans throughout the history of our nation's most important date.

LARGEST PIZZA DELIVERY: July 4, 2012

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The largest pizza delivery was organized by Pizzas 4 Patriots, who sent 30,000 pizzas with DHL Express to the United States Armed Forces at Kandahar Airfield, Bagram Airbase, and Camp Bastion in Afghanistan on Independence Day two years ago.

The 12-inch pizzas were made by Great Kitchens, Inc. in Illinois and the delivery started on June 21. Pizzas 4 Patriots said it made the attempt to give the servicemen and servicewomen a "slice of home" on Independence Day.

FASTEST HALF MARATHON SKIPPING WITHOUT A ROPE: July 4, 2012

On the same day thousands of military abroad enjoyed a taste of home, an American record hero was achieving his latest feat on American shores. Ashrita Furman - the person with the most Guinness World Records achievements ever - broke the mark for t he fastest half marathon skipping without a rope. He finished in 2 hr 27 min 1 sec at the Foot Traffic Flat on Sauvie Island in Portland, Oregon. Skip to 28:30 in the video above to see Ashrita's attempt.

MOST PEOPLE TOSSING EGGS: July 4, 2008

Maybe an activity you might try with the family at your barbecue, the folks of Skagway, Alaska, took egg tossing to the limit. Up in the 49th state, the town's Convention & Visitors Bureau set the mark at 1,162. You can watch the video above ( note: the video claims 1,422 people, but the record is 1,162) and remember that the number is for the people who start as pairs, before only a final duo remained as the egg toss champions.

LARGEST BRICK: July 4, 2007

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Nope, not a bad basketball joke. This record is for literally the largest physical brick ever constructed. Made by - what an American-sounding name - ACME Brick in Denton, Texas, t he brick measured 2.94 m (9 ft 8 in) long and 0.99 m (3 ft 3 in) tall and wide. Made of clay, it stood 3,000 times larger than the average brick and weighed a whopping 6,600 lb (2,994 kg).

OLDEST FEMALE TO COMPLETE A MARATHON ON EACH CONTINENT: July 4, 2004

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Most people will never run a marathon in their lives. Margaret Hagerty didn't run her first until age 66. But boy did she make up for lost time.

Margaret (also pictured top of page) is the oldest person to have completed a marathon on each of the seven continents. Her attempt started on Nov. 5, 1995, aged 72 years 225 days. Nearly a decade later, she finished on this Fourth of July aged 81 years 101 days. Her fastest time among the continent runs was 5 hr 51 min 15 sec at the World Association Veteran Athletes marathon in Africa in 1997.

FIRST BLACK AND WHITE FEATURE FILM CONVERTED TO COLOR: July 4, 1985

Quite conveniently for this piece, the first-ever feature film to get the color treatment after its black-and-white release was Yankee Doodle Dandy. The story of Broadway icon George Cohan, the James Cagney vehicle first released in 1942. But on Independence Day more than 40 years later, MGM Studios re-released the movie with computer-applied color.

HIGHEST BASE JUMP FROM EARTH: July 4, 1984

The highest BASE jump from earth is 1,100 m (3,608 ft 11 in) and was achieved by American husband and wife Carl and Jean Boenish, who jumped from Stabben, Romsdalen, Norway, on Independence Day abroad.

Carl was famous as the "father of BASE jumping," having popularized the activity with his groundbreaking freefall cinematography, some of which you can see in the video on skydiving above.

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And there you have some of the great American achievements on the history of Independence Day. You don't need to build a 3-ton brick or deliver 30,000 pizzas, but if record inspiration strikes you as the fireworks go off overhead, now you know the red, white, and blue bar has been set.

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