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The phrase comes from a toast written by Gen. John Stark in July 31, 1809. Poor health had forced Stark, New Hampshire's most famous soldier of the American Revolutionary War, to decline an invitation to an anniversary reunion of the Battle of Bennington. Instead he sent the toast, which said in full: "Live free or die: Death is not the worst of evils."
In 1945, the New Hampshire Legislature adopted the phrase as the state's motto, and in 1971 chose to have it appear on all New Hampshire license plates, replacing the sentiment "Scenic". The saying is in contrast to the milder sentiments that appear on most U.S. license plates, such as "Famous Potatoes" (Idaho), which contributes to its fame.
Similar mottoes exist around the world. "Eleftheria i thanatos" ("Liberty or Death") is the national motto of Greece and comes from the motto of the Greek War of Independence ( 1821– 1830).
A possible source of both mottoes is Patrick Henry's famed March 23March 23 is the 82nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (83rd in Leap years). There are 283 days remaining. Events 752 Stephen II becomes Pope. 1568 Peace of Longjumeau ends the Second War of Religion in France. Again Catherine de Medici and Charle, 1775Events February 9 American Revolutionary War: British Parliament declares Massachusetts in rebellion March 23 American Revolutionary War: Patrick Henry delivers his speech " give me liberty or give me death" in Williamsburg, Virginia. April 14 American Re speech to the House of BurgessesThe House of Burgesses was the name given to the first elected legislative assembly in the New World. The House of Burgesses, over time, came to represent the official legislative body of the colony of Virginia, and later, the Commonwealth of Virginia. (the legislative body of the VirginiaVirginia is one of the original 13 states of the United States that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution and is generally classified as part of the South. Its official name is the Commonwealth of Virginia it is one of four Commonwealth colony) that contained the following line:
Another related motto of the American Revolutionary War was " Unite or DieUnite or Die was an American Revolutionary War motto which was displayed with the image of a writhing snake chopped into segments, usually on a yellow background. The Pennsylvania Journal published by William Bradford (1722-1791), featured the motto and i".
See also: List of U.S. state mottosHere is a list of state mottos for the states of the United States. To promote tourism, states also establish state slogans, which are unofficial and change more often than state mottos. A separate list of U. state slogans is also available, as well as a
Live Free or Die is popular among the nerdA nerd is a very intelligent but lonely person who is fascinated by knowledge, especially science. A nerd who is versed in computer technology can also be a hacker. A nerd is not the same as geek who focuses only on technology and imagination. The term ne set, a group which also cherishes its independence. This popularity dates to the 1980s, when Armand Stettner of Digital Equipment CorporationDigital Equipment Corporation is a pioneering company in the American computer industry. They are generally referred to within the computing industry as DEC . This acronym was once officially used by DEC itself Digital Equipment Corporation#References|[1] (DEC) had a set of UNIX license plates printed up and given away at a Usenix conference. They were modeled on the license plates in New Hampshire, where DEC had recently opened a branch office. When DEC came out with their own UNIX version, Ultrix, they followed Stettner's lead and printed up a legion of Ultrix plates that were distributed at trade shows.
Political slogans Mottos