What was the name of the 1976 celebration marking the 200th anniversary of U.S. independence?

The 1976 celebration marking the 200th anniversary of U.S. independence was called the United States Bicentennial.

A bicentennial marks 200 years, so the event commemorated the Declaration of Independence’s adoption in 1776. Celebrations took place across the country, with parades, exhibitions, public ceremonies, historical programs, and specially designed national symbols. The date culminated on July 4, 1976.

Philadelphia hosted a major focus of the observance because the city was the location of the Second Continental Congress and the Declaration’s adoption. The National Park Service and many state and local organizations organized historic-site programs connected with the anniversary.

The terms help distinguish the major anniversaries: the centennial was in 1876, the sesquicentennial in 1926, the bicentennial in 1976, and the semiquincentennial in 2026. America250 follows the same 50-year sequence, but its official term is much less familiar than “bicentennial.”