Needham 4th of July parade, photo by Pappatom Fireworks lit up the skies of Greater Boston last night. From our perch on the Mass. Ave. bridge, we saw four fireworks displays, including the grandest of them all, the Boston Pops extravaganza. (The other three appeared to be in Newton, Somerville(?), and South Boston.) Contributors to the Bostonist photo pool have captured the festivities for those of you who were homebound or out-of-town. Shooting from......

We've been discussing Independence Day alternatives mostly just for fun, but there are more serious reasons to consider alternative celebrations on this day. Though conditions have improved, our country has long been dominated by white men and their values. To celebrate an independence day that occurred years before slaves were freed and women could vote is to celebrate an independence that was not inclusive. Our society has made significant progress in 232 years, but we......

Our POTD person has the day off for her birthday (Happy birthday Korri!), so we're bringing you a gallery of Boston fireworks from years past in honor of the Fourth. Some of the images are actually from New Year's Eve fireworks, but they were so cool we couldn't exclude them! We hope to see many more fireworks pictures tagged Bostonist after this weekend. Photo gallery contributors include Aero Racer E, AntyDiluvian, DJ Durutti, minutemen1775, Paul......

Tree-smashed car in Allston photographed by bradsearles Just what we always needed: a cheese sculpture of our independence. [Reuters] Got shingles? Too bad. A shingle clinics in Vermont are being canceled due to lack of the vaccine. [Globe] Thomas Howes of Chatham is among the people rescued in Colombia yesterday after being held hostage for five years. [WBZTV] Plymouth Rock Studios has purchased Plymouth Golf Course as the site of its new studio. [Globe]......

Fireworks photo tagged Bostonist by Aero Racer E on Flickr Here are some more most-awesome modes of non-traditional celebration of an American tradition. Did that make sense? Probably not. Regardless: Fire It Up (Not the Grill) The state pretends it limits fireworks for our "safety," but maybe they just don't want us to have any fun. Massachusetts has some of the country's most restrictive fireworks code. Pennsylvania is the closest state with lax laws,......

Image by Chris Klein Summer Beckons on the Boston Harbor Islands Even though summer is only days old, the word "staycation" has already earned the honor of being the season's most annoying buzzword. But if $4-a-gallon gas and the shaky economy does have you rethinking that trip to the Cape or "the islands" (a.k.a., Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket), you'll still be able to find plenty of island adventures close to home at the Boston......

Harvard endowment shows strong growth. Whew--they were dangerously close to the poverty line for a while there. [Crimson] Menino kicked off Harborfest today by cutting a 400-pound cake. We don't even want to consider the calories in that. [Globe] A fish truck flipped getting on the Turnpike, shutting down a ramp for about half an hour. [WCVB] Speaking of fish, Legal Sea Foods has added a censorship twist to its saucy MBTA fish ad campaign.......

Image from Flickr user DJ Durutti Boston is the greatest place in the country to spend Independence Day. It's the historical center of America, the place where it all happened, the site of the greatest fireworks, yar yar yar, blah blah blah. You're here; you know this. But is there anything you don't know about Independence Day in and around Boston? We're trying to find that out. The Globe covers tired--'scuse us, "tried"--and true......

We freely admit it, we just love sandcastlematt. Today's great shot of the Somerville Independence Day fireworks is another example of his always fun and vibrant photos.......

What with Paris Hilton's release earlier this week and the upcoming celebration of American Independence (sorry, Londonist!), we've been thinking a lot about freedom. Freedom to vote, freedom to choose, and most importantly, freedom to blog. Here are a few things we're happy we've been free to blog about this week. Being the nation's capital, DCist felt especially proud to let freedom ring this week by exposing the really important issues, like how sad they......

We're getting close, damn close, to the start of the Patriots regular season. Perhaps it will help us take the sting away from what's going on with the Sox lately. There will be some new music at Gillette Stadium for this season's home games. Every time the Pats score a touchdown they'll employ a little celebratory ditty. Right now, they're not sure what it's going to be. We're not quite sure if it's more ironic......

They've taken a field trip from the Improv Asylum to take to the streets of Downtown Crossing to find out how much an average passerby knows about the British. From bangers and mash to knocking up, from the Beatles to the Sun it seems there's little knowledge about the Brits walking around downtown Boston. We've seen much funnier – perhaps schilling for a contest to win airline tickets doesn't lend to the funny. Learning point:......

The gap week between the celebrations of America's Independence Day and upcoming France's Bastille Day, this is the perfect time to dabble in some French and American wine tasting history. Ever since the ground-breaking Paris Tasting in 1976 where in a blind tasting France's top wine tasting experts (to everyone's shock) picked American wine over their French counterparts as the best, America's reputation in wine has been on a steady rise. Specifically it was California's......

Unless they look down at the sidewalk and realize you are on the Freedom Trail or their heel gets caught in one of those damn cobblestones downtown, Boston residents can often overlook the history right around them. Well, when the Fourth of July rolls into the city, residents are almost slapped in the face with a six-day-long historical celebration for Independence Day. Boston Harborfest kicks off today at noon in Faneuil Hall with a 500......

Now that summer is officially here, Bostonist has decided to celebrate with a beer. We'd like to invite you out there to join us for a few drinks at the very first Bostonist Happy Hour next week. Stop by and say hello, give us feedback/ideas, and of course inform us of the grammatical errors you've come across on the site during our first few months. We might have to call into work sick Friday if......