U.S. Semiquincentennial (250th Anniversary)

The National Archives has placed several founding‑era artifacts — including the Treaty of Paris, the Articles of Association, an 1823 engraving of the Declaration, Oaths of Allegiance and a draft Constitution with handwritten notes — aboard the "Freedom Plane," which departed Reagan National Airport Monday to begin a multi‑city Semiquincentennial tour; these items are normally kept in high‑security vaults and are traveling together for the first time. The tour has drawn strong local interest — the National WWI Museum in Kansas City says schools have booked visits for more than 5,000 students — and joins a crowded 250th‑anniversary calendar of mobile museums, a Mall "Great American State Fair" and other events (including a planned "Patriot Games"), even as critics note overlapping roles between the congressionally chartered America 250 commission and the White House’s Freedom 250 initiative.