John Hancock signed the Declaration of Independence first.
Hancock was president of the Second Continental Congress when the Declaration was adopted. As presiding officer, he placed his name prominently on the engrossed parchment at the head of the signatories. His large, distinctive signature helped create the enduring expression “John Hancock” as a synonym for a signature.
Most delegates signed the parchment on August 2, 1776, several weeks after Congress adopted the text on July 4. Hancock’s signature is therefore connected both with his leadership in Congress and with the document’s later formal signing ceremony. Some delegates signed later, and the exact sequence of every signature is not fully recorded.
Hancock was a wealthy merchant from Massachusetts and later served as governor of that state. He is sometimes remembered mainly for the size of his signature, but his political position was important: he chaired the Congress during the crucial period when independence was debated and declared. The other famous names on the document signed after him.