John Nixon delivered the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia.
The reading took place at noon on July 8, 1776, in the yard of the Pennsylvania State House, now known as Independence Hall. Nixon was a Philadelphia official and a member of the Committee of the City and Liberties, and he publicly read the document to a large crowd.
The July 8 reading was part of the Declaration's first formal public readings. Readings also occurred that day in Trenton, New Jersey, and Easton, Pennsylvania. These events helped spread the congressional decision beyond the delegates who had debated and approved the document.
John Nixon is sometimes confused with John Hancock, whose name appears prominently on the Declaration's printed broadside as president of the Continental Congress. Thomas Jefferson drafted most of the text, while Charles Thomson served as the Congress's secretary. None of those roles made them the Philadelphia reader.