On the 26th of May in 1783, the people of North Stratford, which later became Trumbull, Connecticut, gathered for a Great Jubilee Day to celebrate the end of the Revolutionary War. Thirteen formal toasts were made to the Union, George Washington, the U.S. Navy, the American Flag, and eternal peace, with each declaration punctuated by the thunderous roar of field cannons. The town was so consumed by the revelry that citizens kept firing guns and lighting bonfires straight through the night, using up a significant portion of the local community gunpowder supply just to ensure their celebration of freedom could be heard in neighboring towns. Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain