US marks its 250th birthday with fireworks, flyovers and extreme weather

US marks its 250th birthday with fireworks, flyovers and extreme weatherImage source, REUTERS/Evan VucciImage caption, People watch a fireworks display at a Fourth of July rally featuring U.S. President Donald Trump at the National Mall in Washington.ByBernd Debusmann Jr, Reporting fromat the Washington National Mall and Nardine Saad, Reporting fromLos AngelesPublished2 minutes agoThe United States of America marked its 250th birthday with fireworks, flyovers, some intense weather across the country, much of which has broiled under an unforgiving heat wave for days."The American dream is back," US President Donald Trump told a cheering crowd at a delayed rally on the National Mall in Washington before the reputed largest fireworks display ever in the US lit up the night.The 4 July federal holiday commemorates the 13 US colonies signing the Declaration of Independence in 1776 to end British rule.The sharply divided country has seen Trump criticised for making himself central to the milestone and politicising it by launching Freedom 250 celebrations, which are separate from congressionally established America 250 events. Image source, REUTERS/Jonathan ErnstImage caption, People gather ahead of a Fourth of July rally featuring U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington.Trump's remarks - where he hit on recent political themes of rejecting communism, Save America Act legislation he favors and the right to bear arms - wrapped up just before midnight at the Freedom 250 event.Upon closing, he told the crowd, "this is only the dawn of the golden age of America" with its destiny "written by God".The celebration, which included a flyover - one featuring the new Air Force One jet - a concert, and fireworks as well as the speech was delayed by a thunderstorm that forced an evacuation of the National Mall in the early evening. 'Separate in name and power': How America reinvented EnglishTrump's new take on 250 years of American exp...