WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today we celebrate Constitution Day - the day the Founding Fathers signed the U.S. Constitution on September 17, 1787.
Constitution Day, once known as Citizenship Day, commemorates the U.S. Constitution. On this day in 1787, the delegates to the Constitutional Convention met for the last time to sign the document they had created. The original states, except Rhode Island, collectively appointed 70 individuals to the Constitutional Convention. In all, 55 delegates attended the Constitutional Convention sessions, but only 39 actually signed or were able to sign the Constitution. The delegates ranged in age from Jonathan Dayton, 26, to Benjamin Franklin, 81, who had to be carried to sessions in a sedan chair.