On July 4, 1826, the United States celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. On that exact same day, two of its primary architects, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, breathed their last. Jefferson died first at his Monticello estate in Virginia at roughly 1:00 PM.
Unaware that his longtime friend and political rival had already passed, a dying 90-year-old John Adams uttered his famous final words in Quincy, Massachusetts: 'Thomas Jefferson survives.' In reality, Jefferson had predeceased him by roughly five hours. The two men had a long, complex relationship.
Having worked side-by-side during the Continental Congress, they later became fierce political enemies during the dawn of American partisan politics in the late 1790s. However, in 1812, reconciled through letters brokered by Benjamin Rush, they spent their final fourteen years engaging in a rich, philosophical correspondence. News of their simultaneous deaths on the nation's golden jubilee stunned the public, leading many Americans to interpret the astonishing timing as a sign of divine favor for the young republic.