Starting June 7, 2010—234 years to the day Congress first motioned to break with Great Britain—the authors of a new book about the Signers of the Declaration of Independence will begin posting short daily biographies of all 56 men who signed the document that created the United States of America. The event will run on the micro-blogging site Twitter until August 2, 2010, 234 years to the day on which the majority of the signers actually signed the Declaration.

The event, called “56 Days of Signers,” may be viewed at Twitter.com/56Signers.

Biographies will be culled from new research as well as our book. Each day, we will post several tweets detailing one Signer’s life, fate, quotes, and trivia. We will highlight historic sites associated with each Signer, as well as special events and groups that preserve his memory.

During the three-month Twitter event, followers will learn little-known facts such as:

    •    Signer George Wythe, Thomas Jefferson’s mentor, was murdered with poisoned coffee.

    •    Button Gwinnett, the Signer whose autograph recently fetched $722,000 at auction, was shot dead in a duel only a year after he signed the Declaration.

1. •   Several of the Signers’ graves are lost or disputed.
   

2. •    Signer Francis Hopkinson designed the U.S. flag but Betsy      Ross got all the credit.
   

3. •   Signer Robert Morris financed the Revolutionary War but ended              up in debtors’ prison.  
   

4. •   Signer George Taylor began his life in the colonies as an indentured servant.
   

5. •Signer Samuel Chase was nicknamed “Old Bacon Face.”