Fun Facts – 10 February 2016

Facts about summer:

• The “dog days of summer” refer to the weeks between July 3 and August 11 and are named after the Dog Star (Sirius) in the Canis Major constellation. The ancient Greeks blamed Sirius for the hot temperatures, drought, discomfort, and sickness that occurred during the summer.
• Summer is the by far the busiest time at movie theatres, and Hollywood always hopes to earn a significant portion of total annual ticket sales through summer blockbuster months.
• In the summer heat, the iron in France’s Eiffel Tower expands, making the tower grow more than 6 inches.
• The word “solstice” is from the Latin solstitium, which is from sol (sun) and stitium (to stop) because it seems as if the sun stops at the solstice.
• In southern England, over 37,000 people gather at Stonehenge to see the summer solstice. Druids and pagans are among those who celebrate the longest day of the year at this notable place.
• In the Northern Hemisphere, summer solstice occurs sometime between June 20 and June 22, and between December 20 and December 23 in the Southern Hemisphere.
• Summer babies are more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD and are less likely to become CEOs. Because summer babies are typically the youngest children in each school class, their relative immaturity can affect the quality of their education.
• A ubiquitous summer treat is watermelon. Watermelon is part of the cucumber, pumpkin, and squash family and consists of 92% water.
• The first Olympic Games in the modern era were the 1896 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the I Olympiad in Athens, Greece. The Games featured the Panathinaiko Stadium, the first giant stadium of the modern world that housed the largest crowd to ever watch a sporting event.
• The most common summer injuries are caused by 1) playground equipment; 2) skateboards; 3) trampolines; 4) lawn mowers; 5) amusement attractions; 6) non-powder guns, BBs pellets; 7) beach, picnic, camping equipment; 8) barbeque grills, stoves, equipment; and 9) trimmers, small garden tools.
• Many yoga groups participate in mass yoga celebrations on the summer solstice. They see the summer solstice as a sacred transition in the flow of life on earth and a time to do sun salutations.

Courtesy of randomhistory.com