July is the seventh month of the year (between June and August) in the Julian and Gregorian Calendars and one of seven months with the length of 31 days. It was named by the Roman Senate in honor of the Roman general, Julius Caesar, it being the month of his birth. Prior to that, it was called Quintilis. It is, on average, the warmest month in most of the Northern hemisphere (where it is the second month of summer) and the coldest month in much of the Southern hemisphere (where it is the second month of winter). The second half of the year commences in July. In the Southern hemisphere, July is the seasonal equivalent of January in the Northern hemisphere.
July symbols: The birthstone of July is the ruby, which symbolizes contentment. Its birth flowers are the Larkspur or the Water Lily. The zodiac signs for the month of July are Cancer (until July 22) and Leo (July 23 onwards).
Historical Events for July, 2003
Day of Week 1st » Over 500,000 people protest against efforts to pass Hong Kong Basic Law Article 23 e.g anti-sedition legislation in Hong Kong.
Day of Week 6th » The 70-metre Eupatoria Planetary Radar sends a Message to Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence METI message (Cosmic Call Cosmic Call 2) to five stars: Cassiopeia (constellation) Hip 4872, Orion (constellation) HD 245409, 55 Cancri (HD 75732), HD 10307 and 47 Ur
Day of Week 7th » NASA Opportunity rover, MER-B or Mars Exploration Rover – B, was launched into space aboard a Delta II rocket.
Day of Week 13th » French Directorate-General for External Security DGSE personnel abort Opération 14 juillet an operation to rescue Íngrid Betancourt from Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia FARC rebels in Colombia, causing a political scandal when details are leaked to
Day of Week 15th » Time Warner e.g AOL Time Warner disbands Netscape. The Mozilla Foundation is established on the same day
Famous Deaths for July 2003
1st » Herbie Mann, American flute player and saxophonist (b. 1930)
1st » Wesley Mouzon, American boxer (b. 1927)
1st » N!xau ǂToma, Namibian actor (b. 1944)
3rd » Gaetano Alibrandi, Italian archbishop (b. 1914)
4th » Larry Burkett, American author and radio host (b. 1939)
4th » André Claveau, French singer (b. 1915)
4th » Barry White, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer (b. 1944)
6th » Buddy Ebsen, American actor, singer, and dancer (b. 1908)
7th » Izhak Graziani, Bulgarian conductor (b. 1924)
7th » Vlado Kristl, Croatian painter, animator, and director (b. 1923)