Everybody knows that in the United States, Independence Day is celebrated on the Fourth day in July. The reason for this is simple - the date forever stamped onto the Declaration of Independence is July 4, 1776. Logic would stand to reason that all 56 signatories of the document did so together on that date. This would be erroneous! That date merely represents the date on which the wording of the Declaration was approved by the members of Congress. It was not until nearly a month later, on August 2, 1776, that the majority of the signatories signed the document.
Also, the month of August wasn't always the eighth month of the year. Until 735 BC, it was actually the sixth month of the year in the Roman calendar. It only ended up in its current spot because Romulus decided that two additional months were needed to round out the year - January and February.
Lastly, August is said to be the time when birds start to "plan" their migrations south, and when insects are the noisiest that they can possibly be. Glad we don't have to worry about that in New York!
