Daily Calendar for Thursday, July 3, 2025

Dog Days Begin

The phrase “Dog Days” conjures up the hottest, most sultry days of summer. The Old Farmer’s �� lists the traditional timing of the Dog Days: the 40 days beginning July 3 and ending August 11, coinciding with the heliacal (at sunrise) rising of the Dog Star, Sirius. The rising of Sirius does not actually affect the weather (some of our hottest and most humid days occur after August 11), but for the ancient Egyptians, Sirius appeared just before the season of the Nile’s flooding, so they used the star as a “watchdog” for that event. Since its rising also coincided with a time of extreme heat, the connection with hot, sultry weather was made for all time: “Dog Days bright and clear / indicate a happy year. / But when accompanied by rain, / for better times our hopes are vain.”

Born

Samuel Huntington (signer of the Declaration of Independence) – 1731
John Singleton Copley (painter) – 1738
Richard Bedford Bennett (11th Prime Minister of Canada) – 1870
George M. Cohan (composer) – 1878
Franz Kafka (novelist) – 1883
Ken Russell (film director) – 1927
Pete Fountain (jazz musician) – 1930
Harrison Schmitt (geologist, astronaut, politician) – 1935
Tom Stoppard (writer) – 1937
Betty Buckley (actress) – 1947
Frank Daryl Tanana (baseball player) – 1953
Thomas Gibson (actor) – 1962
Tom Cruise (actor) – 1962
Yeardley Smith (actress) – 1964
Kevin Hearn (musician) – 1969

Died

Jim Morrison (musician) – 1971
Rudy Vallee (musician & actor) – 1986
Jim Backus (actor) – 1989
Andy Griffith (actor) – 2012

Events

Quebec City founded by Samuel de Champlain– 1608
The first savings bank in America (Bank of Savings) opened in N.Y.C.– 1819
Mount Washington Cog Railway in New Hampshire officially opened to the public.– 1869
Idaho became the 43rd state to enter the Union– 1890
Fruit Garden and Home magazine was published. The publication changed its name two years later to Better Homes and Gardens– 1922
President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibited segregation in public places– 1964
The USS Vincennes shot down an Iranian passenger plane over the Persian Gulf, believing it to be a hostile fighter. All 290 civilians aboard were killed– 1988
Singer Kylie Minogue received an Officer of the Order of the British Empire from Prince Charles during a ceremony at Buckingham Palace– 2008

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Black dust fell in Canada– 1814
Hartford, Connecticut, reached 102 degrees F– 1966
New York City reached 107 degrees F– 1966
Allentown, Pennsylvania, reached 105 degrees F– 1966

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