It’s All About August
Fun Facts You May or May Not Know
Fun Facts You May or May Not Know
Many of you may know that I am a retired educator, so teaching is in my DNA. Teaching about “Fun Facts” was always an interesting time in my classrooms, so here is a “Fun Facts” story about the month of August.
The Name and Nickname of August
Here in the northern hemisphere, August is the second full month of summer, and typically one of the hottest months of the year. Often nicknamed the “dog days” of summer or of August, it is widely assumed that the “dog days” reference is about hot and lazy dogs lying around in the heat and humidity.
Well, many dogs probably do lay around doing as little as possible during those hot days, but actually, naming the days of late July and early August the dog days actually originally referred to the rising of the star system Sirius. Sirius is the brightest star visible from Earth and is part of the constellation Canis Major or the Greater Dog. That is why Sirius is often called the Dog Star.
During this time, the Sun is in the same place as Sirius, which rises and sets with the Sun in the northern hemisphere summer. The Dog Days of Summer lasts from the 20 days before and 20 after the alignment of the Sun and Sirius: July 3 — August 11.
The ancient Greeks believed that the pairing of the Sun and Sirius brought the heat, fevers, and bad moods with it. In ancient Egypt, when Sirius returned to the night sky, it became known as the precursor to the annual flooding of the Nile River, and Sirius was worshipped as the goddess Sopdet.
August Trivia
August has two official flowers: the gladiola and the poppy.
The birthstone for August is the peridot.
There are two astrological signs for August: Leo (July 23- August 22) and Virgo (August 23 — September 22).
In 1957, on August 1, the United States and Canada formed the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). Due to the wrong number on a Sears ad misprint the following December, a child called to check on where Santa was that evening (December 24), and NORAD has been tracking Santa every Christmas Eve since.
On August 2, 1790, the first United States Census was conducted. There were 3,929,214 people counted that year.
On August 6, 1945, Hiroshima, Japan was largely destroyed when the atomic bomb “Little Boy” was dropped by the B-29 Enola Gay.
In 3114 BC, the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, used by several pre-Columbian Mesoamerican civilizations, began. This was the calendar that caused the Friday, December 21, 2012 fears.
On August 17, 2008, American swimmer Michael Phelps became the first person to win eight gold medals in one Olympic Games.
1920 — The first commercial radio station, 8MK “Detroit News Radiophone” (now WWJ), began operations in Detroit, Michigan, on August 20.
On August 23, 1973, a bank robbery went wrong in Stockholm, Sweden, turned into a hostage crisis; over the next five days the hostages begin to sympathize with their captors, leading to the term “Stockholm syndrome”.
Also on August 23, 1991, Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, opened the WWW to new users.
In 1883, on August 26, the volcano eruption and tsunami named Krakatoa began. It was one of the deadliest and most destructive volcanic events in recorded history, with at over 36,000 deaths being attributed to the eruption itself and the tsunamis it created. Small eruptions, mostly of mud, continued into October 1883.
On August 28, 1963, at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his “I Have a Dream” speech.
In 2006, on August 31, Edvard Munch’s famous painting “The Scream,” which was stolen on August 22, 2004, was recovered in a raid by Norwegian police.
August is the Best Month to Go on Vacation or to Just Do Nothing
Even though August is known as the “Dog Days” for its hot and humid weather in the Northern Hemisphere, in most places, August is generally not as hot as July. The weather change makes August the best month to take a vacation: not as hot as July, and not as cool as September.
August is a great time to go to the beach, go fishing, take a cruise, get out into nature, visit the U.S. National Parks, and so on. Well, August was a good month to do all of those summer activities, until 2020.
In August 2020, most of the world is still experiencing the ramifications of the COVID-19 virus, and many venues and activities are closed or restricted. So now people are finding alternative ways to enjoy the last of the summer days.
Hopefully, by August 2021, we’ll be able to vacation and have holiday events and celebrations in August again like before. Until then, if you really can’t go anywhere, August is also a wonderful month to do almost nothing.
About Me
I am a native Detroiter, a wife, mother, grandmother, solopreneur, and homeowner. I would love for you to follow me on my personal Facebook and on my Instagram. Any opinions expressed in this publication are my own.
I invite you to read the stories in my other publications: Your Business Your Brand Creatively and Detroit Ink Publishing.