On this day, 245 years ago, the United States declared independence from the British Empire. During 2003, Norman Lear and Rob Reiner produced a video made up of eight eight Oscar winning actors and actresses: Morgan Freeman, Benicio del Toro, Kathy Bates, Whoopi Goldberg, Kevin Spacey, Mel Gibson, Michael Douglas, and Renee Zellweger along with three Oscar-nominated actors – Edward Norton, Winona Ryder and Graham Greene. They joined highly acclaimed actress Ming Na to give an excellent, oral reading of the Declaration of Independence.