The United States Semiquincentennial, known as America250, was scheduled for July 4, 2026.
The date marks 250 years since the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. The anniversary is therefore tied to Independence Day rather than to the later date when most delegates signed the engrossed parchment copy.
Planning began with the United States Semiquincentennial Commission, a nonpartisan congressional organization established in 2016. The celebration is also called the sestercentennial, bisesquicentennial, or quarter millennium, although “semiquincentennial” is the formal term most closely associated with the event.
America250 follows the United States Bicentennial in 1976 and precedes the Tricentennial in 2076. A common mix-up is treating the 250th anniversary as commemorating the Constitution of 1787; its central anniversary is the Declaration’s adoption in 1776.