50+ Lifestyles

July Dates and Facts

By Eloise Graham

July’s birthstone is the ruby, so named because of its red color. The word “ruby” is derived from the Latin word “ruber” meaning red. The ruby is considered one of the four precious stones, together with the sapphire, the emerald, and the diamond.

July’s flower is the larkspur. However, in doing research, some resources said that the water lily and the sunflower were also flowers of July.

July 4th through history…

July 4, 1776 our forefathers signed our Declaration of Independence from the throne of England. We celebrate this date as our Independence Day, but in actuality, the dissention with England had started 10 or 11 years earlier. “No taxation without representation” was coined as early as 1765, and the protests escalated with the Boston Tea Party in 1773.

The official start to the war was in 1775 with “the shot heard round the world.” However, there was probably more than one shot as there were many skirmishes happening simultaneously. British soldiers were killed at the North Bridge in Concord, Massachusetts at the battle of Concord, however, shots had been fired earlier at Lexington killing eight colonists and wounding a British soldier.

July 4, 1779 was the Battle of New Haven. An ugly battle in which the British burned many homes and ransacked the place. They took about 40 Patriot prisoners, men, women and children, back to their ships.

July 4, 1783 fireworks were available for sale to the general public in Philadelphia. Fireworks had been used at 4th of July celebrations starting in 1779, but had not been available to the public.

July 4, 1826 marked the death of both john Adams and Thomas Jefferson, exactly 50 years after the signing of the Declaration.

July 4, 1861 Abraham Lincoln called Congress into a special session. Lincoln needed the approval of Congress for permission to pay for the war against the Confederacy.