Yes, it should be noted that even if you were twice (100%) or three times (200%) as likely to die on your birthday than any other day, it’s not something that could really be borne out from personal experience, but rather requires a large population study. The differences are pretty minute on a day-to-day personal level.
Not merely July 4, but July 4, 1826, on the 50th anniversary of the Declaration. Adams’s last words are reputed to have been, “But Jefferson still lives.” But Jefferson had died five hours earlier.
I have had several relatives who had milestone birthdays that they made it to, for whatever reason. A great-uncle who at his 100th birthday said he thought he only had five more years, and died 10 days after his 105th birthday. My mother, who said 90 would be enough for her–she said this at said great-uncle’s 100th, for instance, and who died 18 days after her 90th birthday. My aunt, her sister, who said much the same thing according to my cousins, and who died less than a month after her 90th birthday.
This is balanced out by a whole slew of people, mostly on my father’s side, who didn’t even make it to their 50th birthday, and who died at very inopportune times like Thanksgiving, Christmas, and at the 4th of July picnic. Yes, right there at the picnic (but before the fireworks). I don’t think those people were picking the date.