Re-posted from the NRL website, a great resource for Library info and upcoming events. "July is... July, the seventh month in the Gregorian calendar, was named for Julius Caesar, the Roman who reformed the calendar in 46 B.C. July is an important month in the United States because it was on July 4, 1776, that the Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, adopted the Declaration of Independence. July 4th is now a legal holiday for all Americans. The U.S. Independence Day is also observed by neighboring parts of Canada, in England, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Guatemala, and the Philippines, and at all American embassies in foreign lands. July is one of the most important months for the continuance of old customs. For example, Japan observes an ancient festival in July and August called Bon, the Festival of Lanterns. At this time, the spirits of the dead are thought to revisit earth for a brief time. The July flowers are the water lily and the larkspur, and the birthstone is the ruby. The month of July is National Grilling Month, National Ice Cream Month and National Recreation and Parks Month. On this day... Today is Made in the USA Day. Today is the anniversary of the Constitution of the United States taking effect. Cyrus Griffin of Virgina, the President of the Congress, announced on July 2, 1788, that the Constitution had been ratified by the required nine states, the ninth being New Hampshire on June 21, 1788. A committee was appointed to make preparations for the change of government. Today is the birthday of Thurgood Marshall. This American lawyer was born on July 2, 1908. Marshall was the first African American on the U.S. Supreme Court. For more than 20 years, he served as Director-Counsel of the NAACP Defense and Educational Fund. He experienced his greatest legal victory on May 17, 1954, when the Supreme Court decision on Brown vs. Board of Education declared an end to "separate but equal" system of racial segregation in public schools in 21 states. Marshall argued 32 cases before the Supreme Court, winning 29 of them, before becoming a member of the high court himself. Nominated by President Lyndon Johnson, he began his 24-year career on the high court on October 2, 1967, becoming a voice of dissent in an increasingly conservative court. Today is the anniversary of the disappearance of Amelia Earhart. In 1937 aviatrix Amelia Earhart planned an around-the-world trip via the equatorial route that would be the longest ever made. Having completed 22,000 miles of her journey, Earhart, accompanied by navigator Fred Noonan, took off on July 2, 1937, from Lae, New Guinea, for the final 7,000 miles over the Pacific. About 800 miles into their flight to tiny Howland Island, radio contact was lost with her craft. Despite a massive search by the United States Navy and U.S. Coast Guard, Earhart, Noonan and their plane was never found. Today is also the anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1964 into law on July 2, 1964. This law prohibits discrimination on the basis of race in public accommodations, in publicly owned or operated facilities, in employment and union membership and in the registration of voters. The bill included Title VI, which allowed for the cutoff of federal funding in areas where discrimination persisted. At noon today will be the halfway point of 2013. This means that 182 and a half days of the year will have elapsed and 182 and a half will remain before January 1, 2014."
Posted on: Tue, 02 Jul 2013 22:25:12 +0000
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