America’s Time Capsule is scheduled to be opened in 2276, 250 years after the America250 celebration.
The planned burial in Philadelphia is designed to connect the United States’ 250th anniversary with its 500th anniversary. July 4, 2276, will mark five centuries since the Declaration of Independence was dated July 4, 1776.
A time capsule preserves objects, records, and messages for people in a distant future. America’s Time Capsule is intended to capture aspects of the United States at the Semiquincentennial, including contributions from government, states, territories, cultural institutions, and America250 programs.
The year is sometimes mistaken for 2176 because that date is 200 years after 1976, the bicentennial year. The capsule’s target date is instead 2276: exactly 500 years after 1776 and 250 years after 2026.