Friday Facts About August

 August at last. So far, it’s been a long hot summer. 

For many places, August begins the descent into autumn with everyone looking forward to a change of seasons as well as sending the kids back to school.

Not so for Texas. We still have August and September to get through before the weather cools significantly.

This month is usually treated with a certain degree of tiredness—tired of the heat, tired of keeping the kids entertained, out of trouble, and improving the skills they learned in school. Then there’s the exhausting back to school frenzy of school supplies and new clothes. 

Let’s Hear It for August

* August was first named Sextilis, Latin for the 6th month, in the original Roman calendar. Later, it was renamed to honor Caesar Augustus, Rome’s first emperor. Later still, January and February were added to the calendar which pushed August to be the eighth month.

* Elvis died August 16, 1977.

* August is the only month that the name is also in the Top 1000 men’s names.

* August is when Europeans take vacation, or holiday as they call it.

* World War I started in August. World War II ended in August.

* The Anglo-Saxons called August Weod Month—Weed Month—because weeds grow rapidly during this hot month.

* Supposedly, the sandwich was invented in August of 1762 when the Earl of Sandwich directed a servant to bring him meat and bread.

* The birthstone for August is peridot, a beautiful olive green stone that can be light to dark. These gemstones were  formed deep in the earth and brought to the surface in volcanic eruptions, but they can also be found in meteorites. Folklore attributes healing powers and protection against evil to these stones.

* Today, August 5, is Work Like a Dog Day. Did you ever wonder about the origin of the phrase, “work like a dog?” It comes from farmers whose dogs were up at dawn with the farmer and home at sunset. Farm dogs, sheep dogs, and sled dogs worked all day.

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Joan Reeves aka SlingWords: The Word Slinging Adventures of Joan Reeves