Countdown to 250th anniversary begins in the US with planners hoping it can unify a divided country

By NICHOLAS RICCARDI
Associated Press

The United States is about to start the countdown to its 250th anniversary. The buildup begins this July 4 at a Major League Baseball game between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Chicago Cubs at American Family Field in Milwaukee, where the organization created by Congress to oversee the party will kick off the planning process. It comes as the nation remains riven by partisan political fighting, with the shadow of the 2024 presidential election between it and its 2026 anniversary party. But the nation’s bicentennial celebrations in 1976 also took place during a tumultuous time and were widely considered a unifying force.