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Registered: March 2006
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Wed January 10, 2007 7:38am
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John Hancock (January 12, 1737 (O.S.) – October 8, 1793 (N.S.)) was President of the Second Continental Congress and of the Congress of the Confederation; first Governor of Massachusetts; and the first person to sign the United States Declaration of Independence.
Hancock was the only one to sign the Declaration of Independence on the fourth; the other 55 delegates signed on August 2nd. He also requested Washington have the Declaration read to the Continental Army. According to popular legend, he signed his name largely and clearly to be sure King George III could read it without his spectacles, causing his name to become, in the United States, an eponym for "signature". However, other examples suggest that Hancock always wrote his signature this way.
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