The Month of August

August is the eighth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian Calendars and one of seven months with a length of 31 days. In the Southern Hemisphere, August is the seasonal equivalent of February in the Northern Hemisphere.

The birds are already planning to fly south for the winter. The insects are  noisier and numerous than in any other month. This is perhaps the busiest month for businesses, since most people take their vacations in August.

This month was originally named Sextilis in Latin, because it was the sixth month in the original ten-month Roman calendar under Romulus in 753 BC, when March was the first month of the year.

The sardonyx and peridot are the gems for August.

The poppy and gladiolus are the flowers for the month of August.

IMPORTANT AUGUST EVENTS

Colorado became the 38th state, August 1, 1876.

William Clark, a leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, born August 1, 1770.

Lincoln penny issued August 2, 1909.

Martha Stewart born August 3, 1940

Christopher Columbus set sail from Palos, Spain, on his first voyage across the Atlantic, August 3, 1492.

Union forces won the Battle of Mobile Bay in the Civil War, August 5, 1864.

Alfred, Lord Tennyson, English poet, born August 6, 1809.

An American bomber dropped the first atomic bomb used in warfare, on Hiroshima, Japan, August 6, 1945.

United States troops landed on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands in World War II, August 7, 1942.

Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, born August 8, 1896.

Richard M. Nixon became the first U.S. President ever to resign from office, August 9, 1974

Missouri became the 24th state, August 10. 1821.

Smithsonian Institution founded, August 10, 1846.

Herbert Hoover, 31st President of the United States, born in West Branch, Iowa, August 10, 1874.

Thomas Edison invented the phonograph, August 12, 1877.

George Bellows, American painter and lithographer, born August 12, 1882.

The United States annexed Hawaii, August 12, 1898.

Annie Oakley, sharpshooter, born August 13, 1860.

U.S. Social Security Act approved, August 14, 1935.

Indians massacred soldiers and settlers of Fort Dearborn, now Chicago, August 15, 1812.

Panama Canal opened to traffic, August 15, 1914.

American frontiersman Davy Crockett born August 17, 1786.

United States and Canada arranged for joint defense of North America, August 17, 1940.

Virginia Dare, first English child born in America, born August 18, 1587.

Meriwether Lewis, a leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, born August 18, 1774.

Orville Wright, pioneer American aviator and airplane designer, August 19, born 1871.

Benjamin Harrison, 23rd President of the United States, born in North Bend, Ohio, August 20, 1833.

Hawaii became the 50th state, August 21, 1959.

The Savannah, first steamship to cross the Atlantic, launched, August 22, 1818.

First local chapter of the American National Red Cross founded by Clara Barton, August 22, 1881.

British troops captured Washington, D.C., and burned the White House, August 24, 1814.

Amendment 19, giving women in the United States the right to vote, proclaimed, August 26, 1920.

Oil production began commercially in the United States when Edwin Laurentine Drake struck oil, August 27, 1859.

Lyndon B. Johnson, 36th President of the United States, born near Stonewall, Texas, August 27, 1908.

Spanish explorers landed in Florida where St. Augustine now stands, August 28, 1565.

Great Britain provided for the end of slavery in its colonies, August 28, 1833.

Second Battle of Bull Run, or Manassas, ended in a victory for the Confederates, August 30, 1862.

Huey Long, Louisiana governor and U.S. senator, born August 30, 1893.

Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands born August 31, 1880.

Information from World Book