July

July is the seventh month of the year in the Gregorian calendar, coming between June and August. It has 31 days. July was named after Julius Caesar. The month begins on the same day of the week as April every year and also January in leap years. The mid-way point of the year is either on July 2 or in the night of July 1-2.

The Month

July is named after Julius Caesar, who was born on 12 or 13 July

In each hemisphere, it is the seasonal equivalent of January in the other hemisphere. In the North, it is summer and in the South it is winter.

In the Northern Hemisphere, July is often the warmest month of the year, and major sporting events and music festivals are held around this time. In the Southern Hemisphere, it is a winter month, with the coldest-recorded temperature having been measured in Antarctica in this month.

July's flower is the water lily. Its birthstone is the ruby. The meaning for the birthstone ruby is contented mind. Astrological signs for July are Cancer (June 22 - July 23) and Leo (July 24 - August 22).

In the old Roman calendar, July was called Quintilis, meaning Fifth Month because, in the old calendar, the year began in March. Augustus later renamed it July in honour of Julius Caesar, whose birthday was in this month. Augustus later also named the following month, August, after himself.

Holidays

Canada Day celebrations in Ottawa

July 4 celebrations in Washington, DC

• July 1 – Canada Day, National Day of Canada
• July 1 – Independence Day in Somalia
• July 1 – Independence Day in Burundi
• July 1 – Independence Day in Rwanda
• July 2 – Canada Day, observed on this date if July 1 is a Sunday
• July 3 – Independence Day in Belarus
• July 4 – Independence Day in the United States, commemorating the Declaration of Independence.
• July 5 – Independence Day in Venezuela
• July 5 – Independence Day in Algeria
• July 6 – Independence Day in the Comoros
• July 6-14 – San Fermin festival and bull run in Pamplona, Basque region.
• July 7 – Independence Day in the Solomon Islands
• July 7 – Tanabata in Japan, traditional 'Make a Wish' celebration
• July 9 – Independence Day (Argentina)
• July 9 – Independence Day (South Sudan)
• July 10 – Independence Day in the Bahamas
• July 12 – Battle of the Boyne/Orangemen's Day (Northern Ireland)
• July 12 – Independence Day in Kiribati
• July 14 – Bastille Day, national holiday of France
• July 15 – St. Swithun's Day in UK weather lore
• July 20 – Independence Day (Colombia)
• July 21 – National Day of Belgium
• July 23 – Revolution Day in Egypt
• July 24 – Pioneer Day (Utah)
• July 25 – Constitution Day (Occupation Day) in Puerto Rico
• July 25 – Christian feast day of Saint James, includes regional holiday in Galicia
• July 26 – Independence Day in Liberia
• July 26 – Independence Day in the Maldives
• July 27 – Victory Day (North Korea)
• July 28 – Independence Day in Peru
• July 29 – Feast Day of St. Olav, celebrated in the Faroe Islands
• July 30 – Independence Day (Vanuatu)
• July 31 – Throne Day (Morocco)

Other events

• Wimbledon tennis tournament, held in late June and early July
• FIFA World Cup, often held in June and/or July
• Summer Olympics, often held in July and/or August
• In Northern Hemisphere countries, many Sports events and Music Festivals take place in July
• National Ice Cream month in the United States

Selection of Historical Events

Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776

Storming of the Bastille, start of the French Revolution

Buzz Aldrin on the Moon on July 20, 1969

• July 1 – 1867: The Canadian Confederation is founded.
• July 1 – 1937: The 999 emergency dialing service begins in the UK.
• July 1 – 1997: The United Kingdom hands control of Hong Kong back to China.
• July 1 – 1999: The new Scottish Parliament is opened in Edinburgh.
• July 2 – 1937: Amelia Earhart goes missing.
• July 3 – 1844: The Great Auk becomes extinct, after the last group were killed in Iceland.
• July 4 – 1776: 13 colonies on the East coast of North America issue the Declaration of Independence, now celebrated on this date in the United States.
• July 4 – 1826: US Presidents John Adams and Thomas Jefferson die on the same day as each other.
• July 4 – 2012: Scientists at CERN announce the discovery of a particle with properties consistent with the Higgs boson, after experiments at the Large Hadron Collider.
• July 5 – 1811: Venezuela declares independence.
• July 5 – 1962: Algeria becomes independent.
• July 7 – 2005: Islamic extremists detonate explosives at tube stations around London and on a bus, killing 52 people.
• July 9 – 1816: The United Provinces of Rio de la Plata declare independence, as the predecessor state of present-day Argentina.
• July 9 – 2011: South Sudan becomes independent from Sudan, after a referendum six months earlier.
• July 10 – 1973: The Bahamas become independent from the UK.
• July 10 – 1985: French agents torpedo the Rainbow Warrior vessel docked in Auckland harbour, New Zealand, where activists on board were protesting against French nuclear tests.
• July 11 – 1995: The worst massacre in post-World War II Europe occurs at Srebrenica, at the height of the Balkan War.
• July 12 or 13 – 100 BC: Julius Caesar is born.
• July 14 – 1789: The Bastille prison is stormed in Paris, starting the French Revolution.
• July 17 – 1918: The family of Tsar Nicholas II is executed by the Bolsheviks in Russia.
• July 20 – 1969: Neil Armstrong becomes the first person to walk on the Moon.
• July 21 – 1983: At -89.2 degrees Celsius, the coldest-ever recorded temperature is measured in Antarctica.
• July 21 – 2011: End of the Space Shuttle programme.
• July 22 – 2009: Solar eclipse over Asia and the Pacific Ocean.
• July 22 – 2011: The 2011 Norway attacks occur, as Anders Behring Breivik kills a total of 77 people in two separate attacks.
• July 23 – 1952: The Egyptian monarchy is removed from power in a coup.
• July 24 – 1911: Explorer Hiram Bingham re-discovers the remains of Machu Picchu in Peru.
• July 25 – 1978: Louise Brown, the first 'test-tube baby', is born in the UK.
• July 26 – 1847: Liberia declares independence.
• July 26 – 1965: The Maldives declare independence.
• July 27 – 1953: The Korean War ends, though an official state of war still exists between North Korea and South Korea.
• July 28 – 1821: Peru declares independence.
• July 28 – 1914: World War I - Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia.
• July 28 – 1976: Tangshan, China, is struck by a huge earthquake, killing many thousands of people.
• July 30 – 1930: Uruguay wins the first FIFA World Cup, defeating Argentina in the final in Montevideo.
• July 30 – 1980: The New Hebrides, changing their name to Vanuatu, become independent.