Three places hosted the first public readings of the United States Declaration of Independence on July 8, 1776.
The readings took place at noon in Philadelphia, Trenton, New Jersey, and Easton, Pennsylvania. These simultaneous readings helped carry the congressional decision beyond the delegates who had debated and approved the document.
The Philadelphia reading occurred in the yard of the Pennsylvania State House, the building now known as Independence Hall. John Nixon is traditionally identified as the reader there. The other two locations connected the new declaration with communities outside the congressional meeting place.
The number is sometimes confused with thirteen, the number of colonies represented by the Second Continental Congress. It is also distinct from the roughly 200 printed copies produced in the first Dunlap broadside printing, which circulated more widely after the initial readings.