2024 August Trivia and History

Name History

Latin: Augustus. Named after emperor Augustus in 8 BC. Prior to that time the name was Sextilis from the word sextus, sixth (it was the 6th month in the old Roman calendar).

Month Name and Length

August was originally a 30-day month called Sextilis, but it was renamed to honor the emperor Augustus Caesar by Augustus himself. An extra day was added to August so that it would not be shorter than July, which was named after Julius Caesar. Some say the extra day came from February but some historians say that February always had 28 days going back to the 8th Century B.C. (when January and February were added to the calendar) so the final word is not clear. Regardless, August now has 31 days.

August is:

• 2024 is before any special months were decided on

Special 2024 August weeks:

• 25th Annual National Farmers Market Week - 4th-10th (1st full week)
• National Health Center Week - 4th through 10th
  

Special 2024 August Days:

•  2nd* • (Friday)  International Beer Day (1st Friday)*
•  7th* • (Wednesday)  National Purple Heart Day
•  9th* • (Friday)  International Day of the World's Indigenous People
• 11th* • (Sunday)  Dog Days of Summer Ends
• 12th* • (Monday)  Perseid Meteor Showers
• 13th* • (Tuesday)  Perseid Meteor Showers - (Watch online)
• 16th* • (Friday)
  •  Elvis Passes on
  •  National Airborne Day
• 18th* • (Sunday)  Vietnam Veterans Remembrance Day
• 19th* • (Monday)  National Aviation Day
• 23rd* • (Friday)  Black Ribbon Day*
• 26th* • (Monday)  Women's Equality Day

August historical dates:

• 2017 - 17th - Category 5 Hurricane Harvey brought record rains, reaching 50+ inches in parts of southern Texas, continuing with heavy rains that reached the Midwest.
• 2010 - 31st - U.S. Combat operations ended in Iraq.
• 2005 - 29th - Hurricane Katrina devastates much of the U.S. Gulf Coast from Louisiana (especially the Mississippi Gulf Coast) to the Florida Panhandle, killing more than 1,836, and costing over 115 billion dollars in damage. All parts of the Midwest were affected by the Category 5 storm.
• 1974 - 9th - President Richard Milhouse Nixon becomes the first president of the United States to resign from office.
• 1969 - 15th-17th - Woodstock Music and Art Festival
• 1920 - 26th - Nineteenth Amendment approved giving women the right to vote.
• 1779 - 1st - Birth of Francis Scott Key - Author of Star-Spangled Banner.
• 1770 - 1st - Birth of William Clark - Co-leader of Corps of Discovery expedition to the Pacific Northwest and back to SaintXLouis, Missouri. The land traveled was the newly purchased Louisiana Purchase. The purchase made way for the western portion of Florida to be purchased in 1824, which at one time extended to New Orleans along the coast of the Gulf. The Louisiana Purchase nearly doubled the size of the United States.

Poetry of August

Summer declines and roses have grown rare,
But cottage crofts are gay with hollyhocks,
And in old garden walks you breathe an air
Fragrant of pinks and August-smelling stocks.
• John Todhunter (1839-1916)

Lyrics relating to August

•  “LYRICS:It was a beautiful day
  The last in August
  The sun was so hot
  As if she knew - From SONGNAME:And it was summer” • PERFORMER:Peter Maffay*