In some parts of this country, the days of August have a special name: the dog days of summer. Not meant to demean the canine species, this designation is an apt description of the Sweltering month. . . It’s not uncommon to hear people barking about the heat and the humidity, nipping at comments as if they’re meant to be insults.

In 1291: The Republic of Switzerland was founded. (Swiss Independence Day)

In 1625: The British Parliament moved to Oxford.

In 1770: William Clark, American frontiersman and explorer, was born in Virginia.

In 1790: The first U. S. Census was taken.

In 1819: Herman Melville American novelist, short-story writer, and poet, best known for his novels of the sea, including his masterpiece, Moby Dick (1851), was born in New York City