 On the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, he was in poor health and very elderly. He sent a letter with his thoughts on the Declaration of Independence, and he happened to die the day he was supposed to give the speech, on the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the same day John Adams died. Same day. Two friends who became rivals who became friends again. It's a remarkable bit of history, a remarkably poignant bit of American history.