Philadelphia hosted one of the first public readings of the Declaration of Independence on July 8, 1776.
The reading took place at the Pennsylvania State House, later known as Independence Hall. The document had been adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, and public readings helped communicate the decision to people who could not access a printed copy. The Liberty Bell is traditionally associated with the Philadelphia reading, although the surviving evidence does not prove that it rang specifically for that event.
The first public readings occurred simultaneously at three designated locations: Philadelphia, Trenton, New Jersey, and Easton, Pennsylvania. This makes Philadelphia a correct location, but not the only place where the Declaration was first read publicly.
Philadelphia was the political center of the revolutionary movement. The First and Second Continental Congresses met there, and the Pennsylvania State House hosted debates over independence. A common mistake is to identify only the date July 4 or only Independence Hall without recognizing that the first public readings occurred four days later.