Philadelphia is preparing an America250 time capsule scheduled for opening in 2276.
The capsule is planned for burial in Philadelphia on July 4, 2026, the date of the United States’ 250th anniversary. Its planned opening is July 4, 2276, which would mark the 500th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
Philadelphia has a particularly strong connection to the commemoration because the Second Continental Congress met there, and Independence Hall was the site associated with both the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution. Independence National Historical Park preserves several locations connected with that history.
The capsule’s date is easy to misread: it is not intended for opening in 2076. The 2076 date would be 300 years after 1776, while 2276 is five centuries after the Declaration’s adoption.