July 4, 2026 is the date. On the serious answer side, etymological interpretations from Wiktionary, there are:
Semiquincentennial (half of 500 years anniversary) which seems to be the frontrunner;
Bisesquicentennial (which seems wrong on the face of it, since it seems to mean twice 150 year anniversary; it does not appear in Wiktionary but does in Wikipedia; I think it should be Sesquibicentennial if it should exist at all);
Sestercentennial (the simplest version of 250 year anniversary); or
Quarter Millenial (one quarter of 1000 year anniversary).
Some among us might prefer to call it something less respectful. Feel free to elaborate, if you are so inclined.
Since sesquicentennial is common for 150 years as literally one and one-half century, then why not continue the Latin with sester(t)centennial as two and one-half centuries?
The group established by Congress to organize and plan for this is called the U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission, though they mostly call it America250, perhaps because it’s shorter.
BTW, I’m old enough that I was a kid during the Bicentennial and it seemed a much bigger deal.
Same here; maybe in part because 200 is a rounder number (and, maybe, in part, because the American population was looking for something to feel good about, on the heels of Vietnam and Watergate). But, regardless, by 1975, Bicentennial commemorations were already in full swing. As three examples that I particularly remember:
CBS had started running their nightly “Bicentennial Minute” mini-history lessons on July 4th, 1974.
The American Freedom Train – a history museum, transported by train, in commemoration of the Bicentennial – started touring the U.S. in April of 1975.
The U.S. Mint’s Bicentennial coins began circulation in July of 1975, despite being dated 1976.
I remember much of that. In particular, my family saw the Freedom Train when it came through our area. And somewhere in my parents’ house, I have a mint set of the Bicentennial coins. I thought perhaps the current divisions in America discouraged celebrations, but the Bicentennial planning and events went on during the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal so there was quite a lot of division then as well.
I was 26 during the Bicentennial, and it was a much bigger deal, or at least seemed so to me at the time. I agree 200 seems like a more important milestone than 250, and I suppose so will 300 (if we get there).
It seemed like a much different time. We had escaped from the clutches of Watergate, and the genially bland (and not as naïve as he seemed) Gerald Ford (not a Lincoln) was President. Now, well, 'nuf said.
I’ll probably just refer to it as the 250th anniversary.
The Bicentennial seemed a much bigger deal 50 years ago because Independence Day and the “democratic experiment” was a much bigger deal. Since then, it has been more rigorously pointed out that American independence wasn’t a universal boon for everybody on this continent. It has also become apparent that our country often does a worse job of living up to the values we celebrate on that day than other countries. Any celebrations in 2026 will be tainted by one party’s undeserved appropriation of patriotic symbolism.
Yeah. It occurs to me that this is the first mention I’ve seen of this, anywhere; and I’m pretty sure that for 1976 they were going on about it for years in advance, loudly enough for me to notice even though I was more or less living out in the woods at the time and not paying attention to the news. Are we less enthusiastic about celebrating the beginning of the country than we used to be? (See below.)
I would think that a lot of us would be looking for something to feel good about right now.
That might quite justifiably have something to do with it. The idea that there were quite a lot of people, then and now, who had really good reason not to want to celebrate the founding of the USA was, 50 years ago, mostly just barely peeking over the horizon for many of us.
Reading the Wikipedia articles, the Bicentennial Commission was established on July 4, 1966 and the Semiquincentennial (250th) Commission in 2016. So both groups were established a decade in advance, though as others mentioned, there were already Bicentennial events going on by January 1975. For example, I remember the television networks (ABC, NBC and CBS, for that’s all there was) using Bicentennial branding (logos, etc) all throughout this time.
I was in the Boston area at the time and there was lots of bicentennial celebration in 1975. But then that was the 200th anniversary of Paul Revere, The battles of Lexington and Concord and Bunker Hill.
