21st June, " the longest day" of the year. Summer solstice begins

The summer solstice, also known as "the longest day", has the most hours of daylight and shortest night. In the Northern Hemisphere it always occurs in mid-june, while in the Southern hemisphere it occurs in December.

Also known as "Midsummer", the Summer Solstice gets its name from the Latin  for sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still). The Sun reaches its most Northerly point and momentarily stands still before starting its journey South in the sky again until it reaches its most Southerly point "Winter Solstice", before repeating the circle. This is basically how we get our seasons.

Summer Solstice at Stonehenge
In England , people typically gather at Stonehenge, the ancient stone circle in Wiltshire, to see the sun rise.The Heel Stone and Slaughter Stone, set outside the main circle, align with the rising sun.

Did you know....

• Stonehenge was constructed in three phases.
• it has been estimated that the tree phases of the construction required more than thirty million hours of labour.
• Speculation on the reason it was built range from human sacrifice to astronomy.

                                                            

To know more about its history, visit: http://www.stonehenge.co.uk/history.php
To find the date for Summer Solstice 2011 in the multifaith calendar, visit:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/tools/calendar/faith.shtml?pagan
Stonehenge an excuse to revise the use of Who and Which: http://www.ego4u.com/en/read-on/countries/uk/tour/stonehenge