July Birthdays
How it Began
Illustration depicting the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44BC
Now the seventh month of the year, July used to be called Quintilis and was the fifth month of the year, until January and February were added to the calendar in 450BC. The Roman senate named this month after Julius Caesar in 44BC, which he probably would have found quite touching, had he not recently been stabbed 23 times by members of said senate, on the steps of the Curia of Pompey.
July was chosen as the month to name after the recently deceased emperor, as Caesar was born on 12th July in 100BC and it was he who developed the precursor to the Gregorian calendar that we use today.
How it is Now
July is a month of winding down for many people. Lots of school and university students finish their exams in June, so this month is all about kicking back and relaxing before the next chapter. For parents, the first half of July is spent madly trying to get things done before children break up from school. That and wondering how they are going to survive August without education institutions providing childcare five days a week.
On average, July is the warmest month of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, which is probably why it has been designated both National Picnic Month and National Ice Cream Month. However, don’t expect wall-to-wall sunshine, as tradition dictates that whatever the weather is like on St Swithin’s Day (15th July), sets the pattern for the next forty days. So, if it’s raining you can start hoping for an Indian summer in September to make up for a washout August!
As the halfway point in the year, some say that July is a great month to renew your New Year’s resolutions, but if you have done a terrible job of maintaining them in the first half of the year, there is a compelling argument not to blight what remains of the summer by beating yourself up about it all over again (plus, July sunshine is made for lazy days in the garden or on the beach, not putting in the hard graft revolutionising your diet, resuming the degree you never completed or trying to squat and lunge your way to a bottom as pert as Kylie’s). Far better to embrace National Picnic Month and National Ice Cream Month instead.
What is the July birthstone?
Ruby
The name “ruby” comes from rubeus, the Latin word for red. In ancient Sanskrit the word for ruby was "ratnaraj", which translates to “king of precious stones" and rubies have adorned many crowns throughout history due to their association with prosperity, courage and good fortune.
Ancient Hindus believed that those in possession of a ruby would be afforded protection and safety.
In the 15th and 16th centuries, rubies sourced from Burma’s Mogok region became extremely popular, and they remain highly sought-after today.
In the 1800s French jewellers referred to ruby as ‘the dearly loved stone’ due to its deep red colour and its ties to love, passion and raw emotion. Ruby jewellery is a traditional gift for 15th and 40th wedding anniversaries.
Today, natural rubies are primarily sourced from Burma (now Myanmar), but they can also be found in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Afghanistan, Tanganyika (Tanzania), and North Carolina.
Which famous July babies should we raise a glass to this month?
Inspiring People Born in July
Frida Kahlo – 6th July 1907 – 13th July 1954
Easily recognisable on today’s feminist merch, thanks to her wonderfully distinctive eyebrows, Frida Kahlo was a self-taught painter from Coyoacán in Mexico.
Although she was disabled by polio as a child, she was a gifted student and, at 18, was headed for medical school to become a doctor. However, a serious bus accident left her bedridden for three months with multiple fractures of her spine, collarbone and ribs, a shattered pelvis, broken foot and a dislocated shoulder. It was as she lay in a body cast while these injuries healed that she rediscovered her childhood love of art. Provided with a specially made easel and a mirror, Kahlo painted from her bed, explaining "I paint myself because I am often alone and I am the subject I know best."
Unsurprisingly, physical and emotional pain became recurring themes in Kahlo’s work and the lasting scars from her accident later merged with the emotional turmoil that came from her turbulent relationship with fellow painter Diego Rivera. The couple divorced in 1939, after he had an affair with her sister, but they reunited a year later. Kahlo’s self-portraits chart the ups and downs of their marriage, with the depictions of her with short-hair representing those post-affair times when she would chop off her long hair because she knew how much Rivera loved it.
Kahlo is included in our list of inspirational people born in July because of all she achieved in the face of challenges that would have laid waste to less resolute individuals. Sadly, she did not live to enjoy the success her work would go on to achieve. Although The Louvre bought her painting “The Frame”, in 1939 (making her the first Mexican artist to be featured there) she did not sell many paintings during her lifetime and was more often known as “the wife of Diego Rivera” than as an artist in her own right. She had her first solo exhibition in Mexico in 1953, shortly before her death in 1954, but it wasn’t until the 1990s that Kahlo’s work found its true place in art history, both as an expression of indigenous Mexican experience, but also as an uncompromising portrayal of female identity.
Emmeline Pankhurst (15th July 1858 – 14th June 1928)
“She shook society into a new pattern from which there could be no going back” – Marina Warner, Time Magazine, 14th June 1999
Born in Moss Side in Manchester, Emmeline Pankhurst was introduced to the Women’s Suffrage Movement at the age of 14. In 1889, she founded the Women's Franchise League, which fought to obtain married women the right to vote in local elections.
Pankhurst was one of the founder members of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), a militant suffrage organisation whose slogan was "deeds, not words." The group became infamous for its headline-grabbing tactics of smashing windows, setting fire to things and assaulting police officers. Pankhurst and her daughters, Sylvia and Christabel, were among those members of the group who were imprisoned repeatedly for their involvement in such activities. In 1913, WSPU member Emily Davison was killed when she threw herself under the king's horse at the Derby, as a protest at the government's continued failure to grant women the right to vote.
The WSPU’s pursuit of women’s suffrage was interrupted by the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, at which point Emmeline argued that the "German Peril" outweighed the need for women's suffrage. "[W]hen the time comes we shall renew that fight," she said, "but for the present we must all do our best to fight a common foe." After the war ended in 1918, the Representation of the People Act gave voting rights to women over 30, and in 1928, women were granted equal voting rights with men (at 21).
Emmeline Pankhurst is included in our list to honour her fearless pursuit of voting equality for women in the UK. In the face of strong opposition to her tactics (from both men and women) she persisted and, as the great granddaughters of women who got to vote for the first time over 100 years ago, we’re so grateful that she did!
Henry David Thoreau – 12th July 1817 – 6th May 1862
Henry David Thoreau was a philosopher, environmental scientist, and poet. Born in Concord, Massachusetts, he is renowned for his love of simplicity. He is famous for saying “A man is rich in proportion to the number of things which he can afford to let alone.”
Although he lived a fairly isolated life in the woods and often spoke of his enjoyment of being alone, Thoreau did involve himself in politics from time to time. He once spent a night in jail for refusing to pay the poll tax and the experience inspired him to write an essay entitled ‘Civil Disobedience’, which would later influence Martin Luther King Jr and Mahatma Gandhi.
HDT is in our list of inspirational people with July birthdays because we share his love of the natural world and of literature. He once said:
“Books are the treasured wealth of the world and the fit inheritance of generations and nations.” Henry David Thoreau, Walden, 1854
We couldn’t agree more!
Nelson Mandela - 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013
The statue of Nelson Mandela on the grounds of the Union Buildings, Pretoria, South Africa
A familiar name to anyone who was growing up when apartheid was abolished in South Africa, Nelson Mandela recorded a lot of firsts when he became South African president in 1994. Not only was he the first person to hold this office, he was also the country's first black head of state and the first elected in a fully representative democratic election.
Born into the Thembu royal family, Mandela studied law before becoming a lawyer in Johannesburg. In 1943 he joined the African National Congress and co-founded its youth league in 1944. Committed to overthrowing the National Party’s racist apartheid system, Mandela was repeatedly arrested for seditious activities. Although he was initially committed to non-violent protest, in 1961 he co-founded the militant organisation uMkhonto we Sizwe. His sabotage campaign against the government resulted in the Rivonia Trial in 1962, after which he was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Mandela served 27 years in prison but never gave up on his dream of a more racially equitable South Africa. Responding to international pressure and growing domestic unrest, President F.W. de Klerk released Mandela in 1990 and they worked together to negotiate an end to apartheid. As well as campaigning for racial justice, Mandela will be remembered for his healthcare reforms and his efforts to relieve the poverty of the poorest people in society. A controversial figure for most of his life, Mandela is now generally considered to be an icon of democracy and social justice, receiving a total of 250 honours, including the Nobel Peace Prize. In South Africa he is reverentially recalled as the Father of a Nation.
He’s on our list because, well, how could he not be? However, our favourite Nelson Mandela fact has nothing much to do with the headline achievements for which he is famous. Although he was clearly focused on important things like social reform, racial justice and improving the lives of the poorest South Africans, he was also always keen to look nice and would always seek out fine quality clothes and accessories to wear. Mandela was also a huge fan of good manners and would dress and behave like a gentleman wherever possible. It seems like a valuable lesson for life to appreciate a nice shirt but also be prepared to sacrifice your freedom in pursuit of your higher goals.
We hope you have enjoyed our rundown of the best things about July. If you can think of anything we’ve missed, let us know on Facebook or Instagram.