[{"id":7159,"date":"2026-07-16T07:51:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T07:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/hr-worklife\/?p=7159"},"modified":"2026-07-07T19:52:56","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T19:52:56","slug":"ten-fun-facts-about-summer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/hr-worklife\/2026\/07\/16\/ten-fun-facts-about-summer\/","title":{"rendered":"Ten Fun Facts About Summer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We have Summer fun facts!<\/p>

Summer is a fantastic\u00a0<\/span>season<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>when many interesting things happen that you don\u2019t see during other times of the year. Follow along as we discuss ten fun facts about Summer.<\/p>

1. The Whole Month Of July Is National Ice Cream Month<\/h2>
\"Fun<\/a><\/figure>

Who doesn\u2019t love\u00a0<\/span>ice cream<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>in the summer? Whether it\u2019s a cone at the beach or a massive tub in your freezer at home, a summer diet usually includes it. Why, because the entire month of July is National Ice Cream Month!\u00a0<\/p>

US President Ronald Reagan made it official in 1984. He designated July as National Ice Cream Month. He also assigned the third Sunday of the month, National Ice Cream Day.<\/p>

2. Everyone\u2019s Favorite Summer Snack Is Secretly A Vegetable<\/h2>
\"Watermelon<\/a><\/figure>

Along with ice cream, watermelon is another favorite warm-weather snack. People can\u2019t get enough of the refreshing taste on a hot summer day. It may come as a surprise to learn that watermelon is classified as a\u00a0<\/span>vegetable<\/a>, not a fruit. This is due to its unique plating and growth, making it a close relative of the squash family.<\/p>

However, some people still argue against this, which adds to the confusion. Either way, this is a fun fact to tell someone when they\u2019re snacking on a juicy watermelon this summer.<\/p>

3. Buildings Like The Eiffel Tower Grow In The Summer<\/h2>
\"The<\/a><\/figure>

Some large buildings and sculptures are known to expand slightly during the summer months. The Eiffel Tower in France is the most well-known of these buildings. A neat science trick called thermal expansion causes the growth.\u00a0<\/p>

The tower is made of\u00a0<\/span>iron<\/a>, which expands when hot. During the Summer, the iron gets extremely hot, making the Eiffel Tower stand up to 15cm taller.\u00a0<\/p>

Does this mean the tower will continue to grow larger every year? Nope! As the weather cools down, the iron shrinks in size and the Eiffel Tower returns to its normal height.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

4. The Hottest Temperature Ever Recorded Was 134\u00b0F<\/h2>
\"Summer<\/a><\/figure>

What\u2019s the hottest\u00a0<\/span>temperature<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>you\u2019ve ever experienced? Most of us will head inside to enjoy the cool AC when temperatures get over 100\u00b0F. Well, one of the craziest fun facts about summer is that it once reached a scorching 134\u00b0F on July 10, 1913. That world record has stood for well over 100 years. It was recorded in Furnace Creek, Death Valley, California.<\/p>

Death Valley is consistently one of the hottest places in the Northern Hemisphere during the summer months. Average temperatures hit around 113\u00b0F every year.\u00a0<\/p>

5. You Can See The Sun At Midnight In The Arctic Circle<\/h2>
\"In<\/a><\/figure>

You\u2019re used to seeing the sun during the day and the moon at night. Most of you will never wake up in the middle of the night to see the sun shining above, but that\u2019s a common occurrence for people living in the\u00a0<\/span>Arctic<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>Circle.\u00a0<\/p>

Places in Norway are known to experience 24 hours of daylight during the summer. Many people stay up to witness this phenomenon at midnight, which is known as the\u00a0<\/span>Midnight Sun<\/a>. This actually begins in late April, before summer starts, and continues through to August. That\u2019s four whole months without seeing\u00a0<\/span>any<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>darkness.\u00a0<\/p>

Why does this happen? Because the Earth is tilted on its axis, parts of the Northern Hemisphere are always facing the sun during the summer. The Arctic Circle then experiences months of pure darkness in the winter!\u00a0<\/p>

6. Manhattan Henge Is New York\u2019s Answer To Stonehenge<\/h2>
\"Manhatten<\/a><\/figure>

Stonehenge is a unique set of stones in the\u00a0<\/span>UK<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>that confuses everybody because no one knows how they got there. They\u2019re arranged strangely and appear to have been sculpted or placed in a specific pattern.\u00a0<\/p>

These massive stones play a significant role during the longest day of the year, known as the summer solstice. This is when you experience the longest day and the shortest night. When this happens, the sun rises perfectly above one of the stones in Stonehenge, almost as though this was planned.\u00a0<\/p>

By pure coincidence, the sun also rises perfectly between buildings in NYC, known as Manhattan Henge, on the longest day of the year.<\/p>

7. The Longest Day Of The Year Is The Same As The Shortest<\/h2>
\"Fun<\/a><\/figure>

Wait a second, that doesn\u2019t make sense. How can the longest day of the year also be the shortest? Ah, well, it\u2019s all to do with the two hemispheres! When it\u2019s summer in the Northern Hemisphere, the Southern Hemisphere experiences winter.\u00a0<\/p>

Again, this is all thanks to the way our planet is tilted on its axis.\u00a0<\/p>

It creates an interesting instance where our summer solstice coincides with Australia\u2019s winter solstice. So, while we\u2019re out enjoying the extra hours of\u00a0<\/span>sunlight<\/a>, they\u2019re stuck inside with the least amount of daylight they\u2019ll see in the year.\u00a0<\/p>

8. The Summer Olympics Were First Held In 776 BC<\/h2>
\"The<\/a><\/figure>

Summer months are known for many things: hot weather, no school, and significant sporting events. The soccer World Cup comes to America in 2026, followed by the LA Olympics in 2028. People love watching or attending these blockbuster sporting events in the summer, but here\u2019s a really interesting fact about the summer Olympics.\u00a0<\/p>

Not many people know this, but some historians believe that the first Summer Olympics took place in 776 BC. Those with good math skills can work out that that\u2019s over\u00a02,800 years ago. They were held to honor the Greek God Zeus, but the games ended in 393 BC.\u00a0<\/p>

So why do we see the\u00a0<\/span>Summer Olympics<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>every four years nowadays? A modern version was introduced in 1896 and has been ongoing ever since.\u00a0<\/p>

9. The Hottest Days Of The Year Are Known As \u201cThe Dog Days Of Summer\u201d<\/h2>
\"Greater<\/a><\/figure>

July and August are home to the hottest days of the year, every year. Interestingly, there\u2019s a name for these swelteringly hot months: The\u00a0<\/span>Dog<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>Days of Summer. You might think that\u2019s an odd name \u2013 and, to be honest, you\u2019re right. What do dogs have to do with hot weather?!<\/p>

This is where things get interesting. The phrase comes from ancient Greece and\u00a0<\/span>Rome<\/a>, where people believed that a star in the sky (called Sirius) was responsible for the higher temperatures that they\u2019d experience in the summer months. They\u2019d always see this star rise alongside the sun, and they nicknamed it Dog Star because it was part of the Greater Dog\u00a0<\/span>constellation<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>

Dog Star was used for many years before people turned it into \u201cThe Dog Days of Summer\u201d, and the phrase has stuck ever since.\u00a0<\/p>

10. Thunderstorms Are More Common In Summer<\/h2>
\"Summer<\/a><\/figure>

We\u2019ve spent a good part of this list talking about how hot and sunny it is in the summer, so it might surprise you to learn that more thunderstorms happen in this season than any other. You usually associate thunderstorms with rainy and cold conditions, but they need warm weather to form.\u00a0<\/p>

The science behind it is simple: the warm air creates more humidity, which helps to form special clouds that produce thunder and\u00a0<\/span>lightning<\/a>. So, while you\u2019ll enjoy lots of sunny days, be prepared for at least a couple of thunderstorms during the summer months.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

Summer Fun Facts<\/h2>

Which of these summer fun facts do you like the most? They\u2019re all interesting in their own ways, but some are a bit more shocking or unexpected than others. Share them with friends or family members to impress them with your summer knowledge.\u00a0For more fun facts about Summer, check out our\u00a0<\/span>free lesson plans<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>and\u00a0<\/span>Learn Bright YouTube channel<\/a>.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We have Summer fun facts! Summer is a fantastic\u00a0season\u00a0when many interesting things happen that you don\u2019t see during other times of the year. Follow along as we discuss ten fun facts about Summer. 1. The Whole Month Of July Is National Ice Cream Month Who doesn\u2019t love\u00a0ice cream\u00a0in the summer? Whether it\u2019s a cone at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":640,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/hr-worklife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/hr-worklife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/hr-worklife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/hr-worklife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/640"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/hr-worklife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7159"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/hr-worklife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7159\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7161,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/hr-worklife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7159\/revisions\/7161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/hr-worklife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/hr-worklife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/hr-worklife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":7141,"date":"2026-07-15T05:23:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T05:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/hr-worklife\/?p=7141"},"modified":"2026-07-01T20:25:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T20:25:10","slug":"eat-light-for-summer-energy-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/hr-worklife\/2026\/07\/15\/eat-light-for-summer-energy-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Eat Light for Summer Energy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When temperatures rise, lighter meals<\/a> can help you stay comfortable and energized. Seasonal fruits and vegetables provide hydration, fiber, and nutrients that support digestion and overall well-being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This week, try swapping greasy takeout for something light, refreshing, and nourishing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When temperatures rise, heavy meals can leave you feeling sluggish and weighed down. Lighter, plant-forward dishes not only complement the summer heat but also support digestion and help maintain steady energy throughout the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why Lighter Meals Work Better in Summer<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Appetite often dips<\/a> in the heat as your body prioritizes cooling over digestion. To stay cool, it increases blood flow to the skin and produces sweat\u2014both of which require energy. Eating rich, high-fat foods can raise your internal temperature further, placing added strain on your digestive system and making you feel uncomfortable. In contrast, lighter meals\u2014especially those rich in fiber, water, and antioxidants\u2014are easier to digest and more refreshing in warm weather.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fruits and vegetables in season during summer\u2014like tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, green beans, leafy greens<\/a>, and berries\u2014provide hydration along with essential vitamins and nutrients. Seasonal eating also encourages variety, which supports gut health<\/a>. A diverse gut microbiome, fueled by fiber-rich plant foods, is linked to improved digestion, stronger immunity, and better mental well-being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quick & Nourishing Summer Meal Ideas<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Here are two satisfying, no-fuss recipes that are perfect for lunch, dinner, or meal prep on hot days:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cucumber Tomato Salad<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n