As most of the nation celebrated America's 225th birthday on Wednesday with parades, fireworks and barbecues, thousands of immigrants marked Independence Day by embracing their new home.

On board the USS Constitution in Boston Harbor, 19 immigrants were sworn in as American citizens.

At a naturalization ceremony at Thomas Jefferson's Charlottesville, Va., estate, speaker Vartan Gregorian told the 71 new citizens that he had been full of the same joy, fear and trepidation when he became a U.S. citizen 22 years ago.

Gregorian, who left Iran at age 15, is president of the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

"We all share the common fate of this country," Gregorian told the crowd of about 1,500 at the Independence Day celebration in Monticello.

"We have all chosen the United States for its rights, institutions and opportunities. . . . We come not only to enjoy its benefits, but we come to improve it. . . . We know America is not perfect, but it is perfectable," he said.

Elsewhere, revelers grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, camped out for the best seats for fireworks displays, and enjoyed a day off from work.

Atlanta's parade grand marshal was Navy Lt. Shane Osborn, the pilot of a spy plane that collided with a Chinese fighter jet and crash-landed in April.

"It's good to be back in the United States," said Osborn, who with his 23 crew members was held in China for 11 days.

More than 200,000 people turned out to watch the 216th annual Bristol, R.I., parade, the nation's oldest.

In Carmel, Ind., Richard Jewell, the man wrongly suspected in the bombing during the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, was the grand marshal of the city's holiday parade. "I thought it was great," he said.

In Philadelphia, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan was awarded the 2001 Philadelphia Liberty Medal, given to those who uphold the ideals of founding principles of the country.

"Liberty is not just a cause for celebration today, but also a worthy crusade for our time," he said.

Bush urges backing of faith-based initiative

PHILADELPHIA -- President Bush enlisted the revered relics of American liberty Wednesday in his continuing effort to convince Congress that the free exercise of religion should include the right of churches to use federal funds for social services.

The president aimed much of his visit at appealing to African-Americans. He had hugs and kisses for a gospel choir at a Fourth of July celebration billed as an "urban block party," and he quoted Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. along with George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams.

In an Independence Day address in the front yard of Independence Hall, Bush said many of the nation's reformers "have been motivated by a scriptural vision, in which justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream."

Georgia boy dies after fall

DOUGLASVILLE, Ga. -- A 2-year-old boy slipped from a float and was crushed to death Wednesday as he rode in an annual Fourth of July parade.

Cole Sweat of Villa Rica was riding with his grandparents when he slipped and was crushed under the float's trailer. He was pronounced dead at a hospital, Douglas County Coroner Randy Daniel said.

The parade was halted after the accident.

"It's just an unfortunate accident. It's something that everybody's grieving over," said Daniel, who also was riding in the parade. "The (paramedics) worked just as hard as they could to save the boy's life, but it just couldn't be done."

S.C. newspaper that told of Declaration is auctioned

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- The newspaper that told South Carolinians about the Declaration of Independence in 1776 has been sold to a foundation.

The Aug. 2-14, 1776, edition of the South-Carolina and American General Gazette carried news of the Declaration's public proclamation in Charleston and printed its entire contents. It was the only newspaper in the state to print the full text of the document soon after its July 4 signing.

Mark Mitchell, a rare newspaper dealer from Virginia, sold the newspaper last year through Christie's Auction House in New York. The Charleston Library Society claimed ownership after concerns that the paper may have originally come from its archives.

Mitchell sued, and the newspaper has been held in the auction house's vault since.

The Post and Courier Foundation agreed to pay Mitchell the auction price, plus some of his and the auction house's expenses.

The agreement was announced Wednesday in the Charleston Post and Courier. The foundation is its non-profit arm.

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