The moon is a very thin crescent, and will be quite a challenge to see in the western sky before it sets tonight at 8:32.
On Friday, go out and enjoy the early evening after sunset (7:34 p.m.) before the fireworks start.
Saturn, Mars and Regulus will be lined up, respectively, from east to west low in the western sky.
If we could transport ourselves back to July 4, 1776, the moon would be just past full and show a large gibbous phase. It would rise at 8:20 p.m. and set the next day at 9:42 a.m. And the night sky, of course, would be much darker.
In 1776, the source of the sun's heat and light was unknown, and no one knew the distance to other stars. The nature of stars themselves was unknown, though some guessed they may be faraway suns.