July 22 - Rat Catcher's Day
Both July 22 and June 26 are linked to the legend of the Pied Piper of Hamelin.
In the folktale, a colorfully-dressed stranger arrives in the vermin-infested town of Hamelin, Germany, and for a promised fee lures the town's rats away by playing a tune on his pipe. When the town refuses to pay the stranger for his services, however, the man lures the town's children away, too.
Almost every version of the Pied Piper story ends with a paragraph saying the people of Hamelin remembered the day when they lost their children, and that they counted the years after the event. The legend, as told by the late German fairytale publishers Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm (the Brothers Grimm), notes June 26, 1284, as the day the Pied Piper led the children away.
Robert Browning, the 19th-century British poet, wrote the most well-known English version of the legend in 1849. In his rendition, a poem, Browning pegs the date of the lost children tragedy to July 22, 1376.
July 4th Week - National Animal Agriculture Week
Foods from animal origin supply 70 percent of the protein, 35 percent of the energy, 80 percent of the calcium, 60 percent of the phosphorous, and important quantities of the "B" vitamins and trace minerals in the average American's diet. The application of scientific methods has markedly improved the efficiency of meat production and enhanced the desirability of these foods to consumers.
In recognition of the progress which has been made over the years in applying scientific principles to animal agriculture production and the role of animal products in our daily life, this week is celebrated as National Animal Agriculture Week.
July 3 - August 11 - Dog Days of Summer
The Dog Days of Summer, also known as Canicular Days, are typically the hottest and most unhealthy days of the year. The traditional timing of Dog Days is the 40 days beginning July 3rd and ending August 11th coinciding with the heliacal (at sunrise) rising of Sirius. Sirius, the Dog Star, is visible with the rising Sun at this time of year. Ancients associated this sky picture with the hot days that coincided with it. Sirius is the brightest star in the constellation Canis Major (Greater Dog).