August tidbits
August: that time of year when schools are starting up again and the days are at their hottest. Did you know that August was not always the eighth month of the year? In the original Roman calendar, the month was called Sextilius, meaning sixth. In 8 B.C., the first Roman emperor Augustus Caesar had the month renamed after himself. Centuries later, August became the eighth month when the calendar was revised. Here are some other interesting tidbits about this month:
August 1, Colorado Day, commemorates the admittance of Colorado as a state of the Union on August 1, 1876. August 1 is also Lammas Day, marking the ancient English celebration of the beginning of the grain harvest.
August 11 is the official end of the Dog Days of Summer: the 40 days of particularly hot and humid weather beginning July 3. The name comes from the ancient Greeks, Egyptians and Romans, who believed that the dawn rising of Sirius, the Dog Star, in mid-to-late summer contributed to the extreme weather of the season.
August has seen some notable events throughout the years. The 19th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified on August 18, 1920, legally granting American women the right to vote. On August 5, 1921, Harold Arlin delivered the first radio play-by-play of a Major League Baseball game, broadcasting on KDKA in Pittsburgh. In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech on August 28. In 1969, the three-day Woodstock Music Festival began on August 15 in Bethel, New York.
More recently, on August 6, 1991, British computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee, working at CERN, the Swiss particle physics lab, published the first-ever website. The site described the World Wide Web project and how to use it.
This month also has its share of more-playful events and celebrations. For celebrating the fun of clowns, International Clown Week is August 1-7. August 8 is National Sneak Some Zucchini onto Your Neighbor’s Porch Day, a chance for gardeners to have a little fun sharing the bounty of their harvest. To celebrate the end of a grudge, Kiss and Make Up Day is August 25. August 31 is National Trail Mix Day, honoring the well-known snack.
For more August fun facts, visit almanac.com and search “August.”
By Susan Helton
