Joe wrote:
"Wolfie" wrote in message
...
Bart Senior wrote:
The 21-gun salute comes from summing of the digits in the
year 1776.

Salutes of 21 guns for national leaders predate 1776 and
the American Revolution...

Wrong, Bart is correct.

Argue with the Army's Center for Military History and the
Navy's Naval Historical Center:

http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/faq/salute.htm

http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq40-1.htm