John Nixon read the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia on July 8, 1776, an event linked to America250.
Nixon, a Philadelphia merchant and member of the city’s Committee of Safety, gave the first formal public reading in Philadelphia. He read the document in the yard of the Pennsylvania State House, the building now known as Independence Hall.
The reading occurred at noon, simultaneously with public readings in Trenton, New Jersey, and Easton, Pennsylvania. These events brought the congressional declaration directly to the public only four days after adoption.
Nixon is sometimes confused with John Hancock because Hancock was president of the Continental Congress and signed the document prominently. Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration, while Charles Thomson served as congressional secretary. None of those men delivered the Philadelphia reading attributed to Nixon.