Lingering in the golden gleam -

According to the Gregorian calendar, July is the seventh month. On the Roman calendar, it was the fifth month and it was called 'Quintilis', meaning 'fifth'. Julius Caesar gave the month 31 days in 46 B.C.

Being a dictator he could. Luckily for us he didn't authorize the constant changing of underpants or most of the glory that was Rome may never have been built, due the high laundry bills. The Roman Senate named it 'Julius', in honor of Caesar because - well, he was a dictator.



July is usually the hottest month of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. July is one of the winter months in the Southern Hemisphere. The climate is mild in most of the Southern Hemisphere, with the exception of the COLD Antarctica, and the cold, rainy part of South America.

During July, when there isn't much rain, the grass often loses it's greenness. Some flowers are abundant in July, because they strive on the heat. Also, insects are abundant as well - life is striving in July (in the Northern Hemisphere anyway)!

Independence Day is observed in the United States on July 4. On that day in 1776, the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence. In France, a similar holiday, Bastille Day, occurs on July 14 (although they did not adopt the Declaration of Independence.) Several other countries celebrate national independence in July. Independence Day is celebrated in Venezuela on July 5; in Argentina, July 9; in Belgium, July 21; and in Peru, July 28.

In my home, July 12th is a national holiday.

July is chock-a-block of celebrations

The Ruby is the gem for July.




The water lily is the flower for the month of July.




Here are some of the causes recognized in July:

Baked Bean Month



Ah, the musical fruit, I didn't go with the Mel Brooks clip though.

Fireworks Safety Month

Kids, don't play with your illegal fireworks, remember use only ACME brand fireworks!

July is National Tennis Month.



maybe extreme tennis isn't your thing.

Hitchhiking Month



Remember, if you're in a national park, the bears are not like Yogi, don't let them into your car.

July is National Hot Dog Month - National Hot Dog Day is July 23.



Remember don't look too closely into the bit end of your hot dog

Smart Irrigation Month



Wait a minute, maybe they didn't mean this type of irrigation.

National Hyperhidrosis Education Month



For those not in the know, it's excessive sweating.

Peach Month (There seems to be some confusion on whether National Peach Month is in July or August.

So Dammit, dare to eat the peach!!!)


Read An Almanac Month



Which is what I celebrate all the time.


July 1, 1956 -
Columbia Pictures released the classic sci-fi movie, Earth vs The Flying Saucers, featuring special effects by Ray Harryhausen, on this date.



This science fiction movie was "suggested" by the 1953 non-fiction book "Flying Saucers From Outer Space" by retired U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Donald E. Keyhoe, who believed that certain aerial phenomena were interplanetary in origin.


July 1, 1965 -
Paramount Pictures released the film The Sons of Katie Elder, starring John Wayne and Dean Martin on this date.



This picture marked the return of John Wayne to work after having a cancerous lung and two ribs removed just four months earlier. He insisted on doing all his own stunts to show the public that the illness hadn't slowed him down.


Today in History:
Canada celebrates Canada Day (Canadian for "Fourth of July") today.



Hey, when your neighbor has a party, you don't ask why, you pick up a case of Labatt Blue's and a couple of rib-eye steaks.


July 1, 1874 -
After many delays and set-backs, the Philadelphia Zoo, the first zoological gardens in the United States opens to the public on the grounds of Solitude, the last estate in the area owned by the Penn family, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

It was originally chartered by the Pennsylvania state legislature on March 21, 1859 as the Zoological Society of Philadelphia whose core purpose is to oversee “the purchase and collection of living wild and other animals” and “for the instruction and recreation of the people.”


July 1, 1893 -
President Grover Cleveland underwent a secret oral surgery aboard the yacht Oneida for a cancerous growth in his upper palate on this date.



The cancer operation remained a secret until July 1, 1917, when the doctor who performed the operation revealed the story.


July 1, 1912 -
Drama critic Harriet Quimby took a passenger up in her new Blériot monoplane from Boston to fly over Dorchester Bay at the Harvard-Boston Aviation Meet. As she descended for landing, the plane went into a dive and, without seat belts, she and her passenger were thrown out into the shallow water of the bay, where they struck the muddy bottom and were crushed to death.



Quimby was the first American to receive a pilot's license (1911) and was the first woman to solo across the English Channel (1912).

Kids, put on the damn seat belt.


July 1, 1961 -
The Honorable Diana Spencer, a direct descendant of Charles II, was born on this date. She married the Prince of Wales, Charles, in 1981 while more than 750 million people watched. Diana was 20 and her husband was 33 years old at the time.



She was killed in a car crash in 1997 when she was just 36 years old. Her televised funeral gathered 2.5 billion viewers. Such is a life.


July 1, 1979 -
The Sony Corporation revolutionized the music industry on this date when the first Walkman was sold. The Walkman, the first portable personal audio cassette player, allowed people to take music with them anywhere.



The first sale - a blue-and-silver model (TPS-L2), was made in Japan.

Bonus points - in the U.S., it was first marketed as the Soundabout.



And so it goes.