60 Fun Facts About July

July was renamed in 44 BC in honour of which Roman?

It had been Quintilis, the fifth month of a calendar that began in March; the Senate renamed it for the month of his birth.

Before it was renamed, July was called Quintilis, Latin for what?

The Roman year originally started in March, so the numbering fits; September to December still carry their old out-of-place numbers.

How many days does July have?

July and August are the only back-to-back months with 31 days, a quirk often blamed, wrongly, on Augustus wanting to match Caesar.

What is July's birthstone?

Ruby and sapphire are the same mineral, corundum; only the red variety gets to be called ruby.

Which of these is one of July's two birth flowers?

The other is the larkspur, a name shared by delphiniums, every one of which is poisonous to people and livestock.

Someone born on July 25 falls under which zodiac sign?

Cancer runs until July 22 and Leo takes over on the 23rd.

In the Southern Hemisphere, July is the seasonal equivalent of which Northern Hemisphere month?

It is on average the coldest month across much of the south and the warmest across most of the north.

Counter-intuitively for northern summer, Earth reaches which point of its orbit in early July?

Seasons come from the tilt of the axis, not distance; perihelion falls in early January.

The 'dog days' of summer, said to begin in early July, are named after the rising of which star?

The Greeks blamed the Dog Star for heat, drought, lethargy and mad dogs; the Old Farmer's Almanac starts the dog days on July 3.

Which meteor shower, linked to comet Swift-Tuttle, becomes visible from mid-July?

It peaks in August and is named for the constellation Perseus, from which the meteors seem to stream.

US Independence Day marks the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4 of which year?

Congress had actually voted for independence two days earlier, on July 2, by passing the Lee Resolution.

Which two former presidents both died on July 4, 1826, the Declaration's 50th anniversary?

They were the only two signers of the Declaration to become president; James Monroe later died on July 4 too, in 1831.

The Nathan's Famous hot dog eating contest is held every July 4 in which New York neighbourhood?

The story that it started in 1916 was invented by a publicist in the 1970s, as he admitted in 2010.

Canada Day, July 1, marks the confederation of 1867. What was the holiday called until 1982?

The name changed the same year the constitution was patriated, cutting the last legal ties to Britain's parliament.

In Quebec, July 1 is also traditionally what?

The custom dates to New France, when landlords were banned from evicting tenant farmers before the snow melted.

How many prisoners were held in the Bastille when it was stormed on July 14, 1789?

Four forgers, two men judged insane and one aristocrat were freed; the governor was killed after surrendering.

Belgium's National Day, July 21, marks the 1831 investiture of whom?

The Belgian Revolution had pushed the Dutch out the year before.

The Twelfth of July Orange Order parades celebrate William of Orange's 1690 victory at which river?

The battle was actually fought on July 1 by the old calendar; the date shifted when the Gregorian calendar was adopted.

Nelson Mandela International Day is celebrated on July 18 because of what?

Its slogan asks people to give 67 minutes to service, one for each year Mandela spent fighting for social justice.

Who led the Mormon pioneers into the Salt Lake Valley in 1847, commemorated on Utah's Pioneer Day?

Parades, rodeos and fireworks make it a second Fourth of July for the state.

The July 5 celebration once held by Black New Yorkers marked what?

The state's gradual abolition took full effect on July 4, 1827, but fear of violence led people to celebrate the day after.

Japan's Tanabata festival marks the yearly meeting of lovers represented by which two stars?

People write wishes on strips of paper called tanzaku and hang them on bamboo.

Japan's Marine Day, a July holiday, was created to honour what?

The emperor sailed home aboard the Meiji Maru, an iron steamship built in Scotland; the day moved to the third Monday in 2003.

On Finland's National Sleepy Head Day, what happens to the last person asleep in the house?

The custom draws on the legend of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus, and the town of Naantali dunks a celebrity every year.

On Tynwald Day, July 5, the parliament of which island meets outdoors on an artificial hill?

The open-air Midsummer Court at St John's dates back to the 10th century.

Which mountain do Irish pilgrims climb, some barefoot, on Reek Sunday?

Saint Patrick is said to have fasted on the summit for forty days; Mass is held in a small chapel at the top.

World Population Day, July 11, was inspired by which milestone reached on that date in 1987?

The UN Development Programme created the observance in 1989.

July is National Ice Cream Month in the US, proclaimed in 1984 by which president?

National Ice Cream Day is the third Sunday of the month; the resolution passed both houses of Congress first.

What happened at Bikini Atoll four days before the bikini was unveiled in Paris on July 5, 1946?

Designer Louis Réard, an automotive engineer by trade, hoped his creation would be just as explosive.

The Trinity test, the first nuclear detonation, took place on July 16, 1945, in which US state?

The site was the Jornada del Muerto desert; the plutonium 'gadget' was the same design dropped on Nagasaki three weeks later.

Apollo 11 landed the first humans on the Moon on which day of the month in 1969?

The mission launched on July 16 and splashed down on July 24; Armstrong's first step was watched by an estimated 600 million people.

Disneyland opened in Anaheim, California, on July 17 of which year?

It is the only Disney park designed and built under Walt Disney's direct supervision.

Live Aid on July 13, 1985, was staged at Wembley Stadium and a stadium in which US city?

Bob Geldof and Midge Ure organised it for Ethiopian famine relief; Queen's set opened with a shortened Bohemian Rhapsody.

The Tour de France, raced every July, was first organised in 1903 to boost sales of what?

L'Auto, the paper behind it, was the ancestor of today's L'Équipe; the race leader wears the yellow jersey.

Sliced bread was sold commercially for the first time on July 7, 1928, by a bakery in which state?

Inventor Otto Rohwedder was from Iowa, but the Chillicothe Baking Company in Missouri sold the first loaves; within five years 80 percent of US bread was pre-sliced.

Louise Brown, born July 25, 1978, in Oldham, England, was the first person born as a result of what?

Her parents had tried to conceive for nine years; her sister Natalie, born in 1982, was also conceived by IVF.

Amazon was founded on July 5, 1994, by Jeff Bezos under what original name?

It started as an online bookstore run from Bellevue, Washington.

Which failed Confederate assault on Cemetery Ridge ended the Battle of Gettysburg?

About 12,000 men attacked the Union centre; the battle was the bloodiest in American history to that point, with over 50,000 casualties.

The first day of the Somme, 1 July 1916, is the worst single day of casualties for which nation's military?

There were 57,470 British casualties that day, including 19,240 killed; the battle dragged on to November.

Which champion of alternating current was born on July 10, 1856?

Born in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, he emigrated to the United States in 1884 and never took a degree.

Which Nobel-winning author was born on July 21, 1899, and died on July 2, 1961?

He was raised in Oak Park, Illinois, and won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954.

Which Mexican painter was born on July 6, 1907, and died on July 13, 1954, in the same house?

Her self-portraits mixed realism and fantasy to explore identity, gender and Mexican society.

Which Dutch Golden Age master was born on July 15, 1606?

About 300 paintings and 300 etchings of his survive.

Simón Bolívar, born July 24, 1783, led which of these countries to independence from Spain?

Known as El Libertador, he also freed the lands that became Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama and Peru; Bolivia is named after him.

In which year was Amelia Earhart, lost over the Pacific in July 1937, legally declared dead?

The declaration came on January 5, 1939, after an extensive air and sea search failed to find any trace of her plane.

Which author, born 31 July 1965, shares a birthday with her creation, the boy wizard Harry Potter?

Her series has sold more than 600 million copies, and she writes crime novels as Robert Galbraith.

Henry Ford's production system for making cars affordable is named what?

In 1911 he patented the transmission mechanism used in the Model T.

Sandra Day O'Connor, nominated in July 1981, became the first woman to do what?

Nominated by Ronald Reagan, she had already been the first female majority leader of a state senate, in Arizona.

System Administrator Appreciation Day falls on the last Friday of July. Its founder was inspired by what?

Ted Kekatos held the first one on July 28, 2000, after seeing the Hewlett-Packard advertisement.

The Faroe Islands' biggest festival, Ólavsøka, ends on July 29 with the opening of what?

Boat races and football matches fill the two-day festival, which many Faroese treat as their national day.

World Chocolate Day, July 7, is said to mark chocolate's introduction to Europe in which year?

The observance itself only dates to 2009, and the United States keeps a separate National Chocolate Day on October 28.

Machu Picchu was brought to world attention in July 1911 by which American explorer?

Locals already knew the site, and a 2021 study suggests the Incas may have called it Huayna Picchu, after the smaller peak.

The ice cream cone is often said to have been popularised at a 1904 World's Fair in which city?

A Syrian concessionaire named Ernest Hamwi rolled a waffle into a holder; several other families dispute the credit.

Besides ice cream, which food gets a whole national observance in July in the United States?

The Fourth of July is the year's biggest hot dog day, and National Hot Dog Day itself falls on July 23.

Alongside the water lily, which flower is July's other birth flower?

The month's birthstone, the ruby, is said to symbolise contentment.

In Catholic tradition, July is dedicated as the Month of what?

A Feast of the Most Precious Blood fell on July 1 until it was removed from the official Roman calendar in 1969.

Matariki, a public holiday that can fall in late June or July, is the New Year of which people?

New Zealand's government sets each year's date on the advice of a Matariki Advisory Committee.

Which country celebrates its Independence Day on July 20?

Venezuela's falls on July 5 and Argentina's on July 9, making July a busy month for South American national days.

Which African country marks its Independence Day on July 26?

The Maldives shares the date, while Cuba observes its Day of the National Rebellion.

Which Pacific nation celebrates its Independence Day on July 30?

The Solomon Islands celebrate on July 7 and Kiribati on July 12.