Fourth of July: Independence Day celebrations in the US

The President's Own Marine Band plays as Barack and Michelle Obama stand on the White House balcony with families of service personnel gathered on the south lawn for Independence Day festivities
Photograph: Martin Simon/EPA

Savannah Hogue, two, celebrates Independence Day in Washington
Photograph: Jacquelyn Martin/AP

Dressed to represent Uncle Sam, Steve Myott, of Greenville, North Carolina, prepares for an Independence Day parade
Photograph: Jacquelyn Martin/AP

Six-month-old Lilly Oldin, of Zurich, Switzerland, plays with an American flag
Photograph: Wilfredo Lee/AP

Gunner, a one-year-old Siberian Husky, wears an American flag on his head as his owners attend a Fourth of July parade
Photograph: Wilfredo Lee/AP

President Obama and first lady, Michelle Obama, wave from the balcony as they welcome military families to a barbeque
Photograph: Mike Theiler/Reuters

Obama greets military families on the south lawn of the White House
Photograph: Martin H. Simon/Getty Images

Independence Day on the beach - a plastic flag lies in the oil at Gulf Shores, Alabama
Photograph: Dan Anderson/EPA

An American flag is seen through rain drops on a windscreen
Photograph: Tom Dorsey/AP

Sue and Roger Main watch fireworks in Fenton, Michigan
Photograph: John Ehlke/AP

Fireworks explode in Washington
Photograph: Hyungwon Kang/Reuters

Fireworks explode over the New York City skyline
Photograph: Jessica Rinaldi/Reuters

Motorists watch fireworks being launched from Palisades high school in Pacific Palisades, California
Photograph: Mike Nelson/EPA

Fireworks light up a slick of oil on the beach at Gulf Shores, Alabama after it washed ashore from the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico
Photograph: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Fireworks explode over the Hudson river in Manhattan
Photograph: Mike Adamucci/AP