Fourth of July holiday marked with pomp, dazzle

NEW YORK -- Americans celebrated their country's 241st birthday with big-time fireworks, small-town parades and other spectacles.

Tuesday's festivities stretch from a baseball home-run derby in London to a picnic at the White House to a Utah ski town where residents initially weren't even sure they'd be home for Independence Day after recent wildfires.

For all the pomp and celebration, July Fourth marks a day of shared traditions in a nation that has grappled with divides this past year. And in an era of concerns about security, the Independence Day celebrations are mixed with precautions.

Some highlights from around the world:

A first for the president

Members of the St. Charles Municipal Band roll past a 1953 Chevy 210 parked in front of McNeil Motor Cars on Tuesday as the St. Charles Jaycees Riverfest Parade makes its way through the Frenchtown neighborhood.Robert Cohen ~ St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP

For President Donald Trump's first Independence Day in office, he and first lady Melania Trump were hosting a picnic for military families at the White House, followed by a fireworks viewing for military families and staffers.

Before the picnic, Trump kicked off his holiday at his golf club in Virginia. The president arrived at the club in Sterling just before 10 a.m. and spent nearly four hours there before returning to the White House. Aides did not answer questions about whether he was golfing.

California celebrates with classic cars

Decked out in red, white and blue, Californians waved flags and sang patriotic songs at Independence Day parades across the state.

Hundreds lined the streets under bright sunshine Tuesday for seaside Santa Monica's annual celebration, which featured bands and classic cars.

California's love affair with the automobile was front-and-center at South Pasadena's parade, which had the theme "Freedom on the Road. Celebrating Route 66."

The parades were among dozens up and down the state. When the sun set, the parties were to continue with fireworks displays. Among the largest in the Los Angeles area was the annual fanfare at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.

Senators celebrate with troops abroad

U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse said it was emotional and inspiring to spend July 4 with troops in Afghanistan.

Sen. John McCain, an Arizona Republican, led a group of senators to Pakistan and Afghanistan for the holiday weekend. They visited a military base in South Waziristan and met with Pakistani leaders in Islamabad before traveling to Kabul, Afghanistan.

Whitehouse, a Democrat, said during a phone interview from Bagram airfield Tuesday it was emotional because service members in Afghanistan are constantly in harm's way and constantly making the nation proud.

Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren, South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham and Georgia Republican Sen. David Perdue are on the trip. They met with Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani.

Welcoming new Americans

More than 15,000 new citizens were sworn in during more than 65 Independence Day-themed naturalization ceremonies across the country.

They took place in locales ranging from courthouses to parks to aircraft-carriers-turned-museums.

Atlanta road race draws 65,000

Tens of thousands of amateur runners in Atlanta have celebrated the Fourth of July by trailing after an elite band of professionals in the city's annual 10K race.

Organizers of the AJC Peachtree Road Race said up to 65,000 runners were expected to participate Tuesday morning in hot, humid weather under clear skies.

At least one runner was treated for a medical emergency at the finish line. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported there had been few serious incidents.

Colorado-based Leonard Korir won the Elite Men's Division with a time of 28:16. Aliphine Tuliamuk of Santa Fe, New Mexico, won the Women's Championship with an unofficial time of 32:49.

Daylong party in Philly

In Philadelphia, where the Founding Fathers approved the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, a daylong national birthday party was taking place.

At a celebration of freedom ceremony at Independence Hall on Tuesday morning, members of Boyz II Men read excerpts from the document, and a parade was held through the city's historic area.

Descendants of some of the signers of the Declaration were scheduled to take part in the annual ceremonial tapping of the Liberty Bell later Tuesday.

Then, hundreds of thousands were expected to attend a party on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway with hours of free music capped by a concert by Mary J. Blige and ending with the annual fireworks display.

Home for the holiday

Residents of the southern Utah ski resort town of Brian Head were planning a fireworks-free celebration, having returned home last Friday after a wildfire forced evacuations in the town two weeks earlier.

"None of us even knew if we were going to be open for the Fourth of July," Brian Head Resort spokesman Mark Wilder said.

The alpine town is near several national monuments and parks in Utah's red-rock country. Brian Head is normally filled with vendors selling crafts and food on the holiday, one of the biggest celebrated at the resort and the start of the area's festival season, Wilder said.

But he said the town has suspended its fireworks show this year because the area is still too dry and ripe for fires.

"I'm sure people are disappointed with that, but better safe than sorry," Wilder said.

Fatal fireworks

Officials said an Indiana man died in Kentucky after a fireworks accident.

The Gleaner reported the Henderson County Coroner's Office said 25-year-old Michael Osborne died Monday night at a hospital. A deputy coroner said Osborne, of Salem, Indiana, was bending over a firework to light it when it went off prematurely and hit him in the chest.

The firework hit Osborne hard enough to stop his heart, and the preliminary cause of death was blunt-force trauma.