The first public readings of the Declaration of Independence took place on July 8, 1776.
The readings occurred at noon in three places: Philadelphia, Trenton in New Jersey, and Easton in Pennsylvania. In Philadelphia, John Nixon read the document to a crowd in the yard of the Pennsylvania State House, now known as Independence Hall.
Congress had approved the Declaration on July 4 and sent copies to printer John Dunlap. Public readings helped spread the news beyond the delegates who had debated the document in Congress and made the declaration understandable to ordinary residents.
July 8 is often confused with July 4, the date of adoption, or August 2, the date on which most delegates signed the engrossed parchment. These dates describe separate stages in the document’s creation, publication, and signing.