The phrase “Dog Days” conjures up the hottest, most sultry days of summer. The Old Farmer’s Almanac 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.”
Daily Calendar for Thursday, July 3, 2025
Born
- Samuel Huntington (signer of the Declaration of Independence) –
- John Singleton Copley (painter) –
- Richard Bedford Bennett (11th Prime Minister of Canada) –
- George M. Cohan (composer) –
- Franz Kafka (novelist) –
- Ken Russell (film director) –
- Pete Fountain (jazz musician) –
- Harrison Schmitt (geologist, astronaut, politician) –
- Tom Stoppard (writer) –
- Betty Buckley (actress) –
- Frank Daryl Tanana (baseball player) –
- Thomas Gibson (actor) –
- Tom Cruise (actor) –
- Yeardley Smith (actress) –
- Kevin Hearn (musician) –
Died
- Jim Morrison (musician) –
- Rudy Vallee (musician & actor) –
- Jim Backus (actor) –
- Andy Griffith (actor) –
Events
- Quebec City founded by Samuel de Champlain –
- The first savings bank in America (Bank of Savings) opened in N.Y.C. –
- Mount Washington Cog Railway in New Hampshire officially opened to the public. –
- Idaho became the 43rd state to enter the Union –
- Fruit Garden and Home magazine was published. The publication changed its name two years later to Better Homes and Gardens –
- President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibited segregation in public places –
- 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 –
- Singer Kylie Minogue received an Officer of the Order of the British Empire from Prince Charles during a ceremony at Buckingham Palace –
Weather
- Black dust fell in Canada –
- Hartford, Connecticut, reached 102 degrees F –
- New York City reached 107 degrees F –
- Allentown, Pennsylvania, reached 105 degrees F –
