July is the seventh month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It is on average the warmest month in most of the Northern Hemisphere, where it is the second month of summer, and the coldest month in much of the Southern Hemisphere, where it is the second month of winter. It was named by the Roman Senate in honour of Roman general Julius Caesar in 44 B.C., it being the month of his birth.

Happy Canada Day 

1st July, Canada Day (formerly known as Dominion Day) is a national holiday in Canada. It is always observed on 1 July, unless that date falls on a Sunday, in which case it is observed the following day. On 1st July 1867, the British government (under Queen Victoria) approved a plan which allowed Canada to become an independent country with its own government. Four provinces (Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick) joined to form the Dominion of Canada. Dominion Day was officially renamed "Canada Day" by an Act of Parliament on 27 October 1982. 

4th July is American Independance day. Thirteen states on the Atlantic coast of North America were once British Colonies. On 4th July 1776, these 13 states declared their independence and formed the United States.

On the 6th July 1942 Anne Frank and her family were forced to go into hiding in Nazi-occupied Holland. Born in Germany on 12th June 1929 Anne was a 13-year-old Jewish diarist. In the summer of 1942 she began a diary relating her everyday experiences, her relationship with her family and friends, and observations about the increasingly dangerous world around her. Through "The Diary of Anne Frank" people all over the world were able to see what life as a persecuted Jew was like during World War II. On the 4th August 1944, the Nazi Gestapo discovered the Frank's "Secret Annex" and the family were sent to the Nazi death camps. Anne ended up at the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland, her diary was left behind, undiscovered by the Nazis. In 1944 Anne and her sisters were moved to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany. Her sisters caught typhus and died in early March. The following year Anne died from the same disease.

On the 9th July 1900 Queen Victoria gave Royal Assent to the Act to Constitute the Commonwealth of Australia. The Act proclaimed that the Australian colonies would be united (as of January 1st, 1901) as the Commonwealth of Australia, under a single constitution.

On the 10th July 1958, the first parking meter in England was installed in London. The charge was 6d (2½p) an hour for the first two hours, ten shillings for the next two hours, and two pounds after that. Today, in London, Motorists pay an average of £7.99 for two hours.

In France the 14th July is Bastille Day. It commemorates the storming of the Bastille, which took place on 14th July 1789 and marked the beginning of the French Revolution. The Bastille was a prison in France that the kings and queens often used to lock up the people that did not agree with their decisions. To many people, the prison was a symbol of all the bad things committed by the kings and queens, so the storming of the prison was a symbol of liberty and the fight against oppression for all French citizens.

The 15th July is St. Swithin's Day which says that whatever the weather is like on St. Swithin's Day it will continue so for the next forty days.
'St. Swithin's day if thou dost rain
For forty days it will remain
St. Swithin's day if thou be fair
For forty days 'twill rain nae mair.'

It's all a complete myth.

On the 16th July 1945, the first atom bomb was tested in a desert in New Mexico. The blast was so powerful that the sand beneath it melted into a green glassy called Trinitite, the shock wave broke windows 120 miles away and the tremors were reportedly felt 160 miles from ground zero. The destructive powers of the atom bomb on that day forever changed the world and set off 50 years of debate about the morality of using such a deadly weapon.

Nelson Mandela was born on the 18th July 1918. He served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Mandela was not afraid to challenge things that were wrong and he suffered for his beliefs.

The Mary Rose, one of Henry VIII's 'great ships', and his pride and joy, sank on the 19th July 1545. It's not known exactly what happened but one theory suggests that the crew fired the guns on one side of the ship and were turning the ship to fire the guns on the other side. Unfortunately, they failed to close the gun ports and a combination of this and the wind caused the ship to tilt, fill with water and sink.

On the 21st July 1969, American Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the Moon.

In the UK the census of people takes place every ten years. The census of swans takes place annually during the third week in July on the river Thames in a ceremony known as Swan Upping. Swans are counted and marked on a 70 mile, five day journey up the River Thames. It starts on the Monday at Sunbury and ends at Abingdon on the Friday. The Swan Uppers catch and check the health of the swans and their cygnets through five counties, from Sunbury-on-Thames, Middlesex, to Abingdon, Oxfordshire.

The 25th July is St Christopher's day, the patron saint of travelling and travellers.

Dharma day is a celebration of the "turning of the wheel of the Dharma" - the Buddha's first sermon. It is traditionally celebrated during the full moon in July.

Bugs Bunny made his debut on the 27th July 1940, in an animated short film called 'A Wild Hare'.

That's All Folks

∼ Be safe and well ∼ 

Polly x