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The rites and habits associated with ‘midsummer’ clustered around a number of dates in Shakespeare’s time. The June solstice occurs on a day between the 20 and 22 June, but ‘Midsummer Day’ was fixed in the calendar as 24 June (also known as St John’s Day). Midsummer was one of the most popular and keenly-observed festivals throughout the early modern period. Rural communities marked it with Morris dancing, processions, late-night drinking, the blessing of crops and the ritual banishment of devils and other unwelcome sprites – precisely the sort of pagan-originating, Catholic-saint-encompassing mishmash that Protestant reformers despised. But by the...

John understood that his role was to prepare the way for Christ, and then to step aside: “He must increase, I must decrease” (John 3:30). The birth of Jesus is celebrated at Christmas (beginning of another quarter) in December—at the Winter Solstice, as the Sun begins to “increase” in day light and the day lights grow longer each day. The Bible indicates that John was born six months before Jesus (Luke 1:26), so his birth celebrates during the Summer Solstice, as the Sun begins to “decrease” in day light and day lights become shorter. Summer Solstice has the longest day...

Hundreds of people attended the summer solstice at Stonehenge despite official advice asking them not to travel to the site in line with Covid restrictions. As a result English Heritage pulled a live feed of the sunrise at the neolithic monument in Wiltshire at 04:52 BST due to safety concerns. People were seen climbing over a low fence to access the stones. Wiltshire Police said the event was peaceful but added the number of people at nearby Avebury had caused issues. More than 200,000 people from around the world tuned in to the live stream for the solstice but ended...

Explanation: This intriguing monument can be found in Taiwan between the cities of Hualian and Taitong. Split into two sides, it straddles a special circle of latitude on planet Earth, near 23.5 degrees north, known as the Tropic of Cancer. Points along the Tropic of Cancer are the northernmost locations where the Sun can pass directly overhead, an event that occurs once a year during the northern hemisphere's summer solstice. The latitude that defines the Tropic of Cancer corresponds to the tilt of planet Earth's rotation axis with respect to its orbital plane. The name refers to the zodiacal constellation...

The Rapture is an event many Christians believe marks the return of the son of God – and all the believers will disappear from Earth up to Heaven in the "twinkling of an eye". But this happens after a tribulation period – seven years that are first of peace and unity around the world and then three and a half years of war and global pandemics. And Steve Fletcher, who monitors events that could signal the end of mankind, believes the Rapture starts today. He said: “Time is up and all hell breaks loose after June 21, 2018.” He explained...

On Monday (June 20), the full moon will fall on the solstice for the first time since 1948. To celebrate this special occasion, the online Slooh Community Observatory will broadcast views of the moon live from the Canary Islands. The broadcast starts at 8 p.m. EDT (0000 GMT Tuesday, June 21) and will include discussion between Slooh host Paul Cox and Slooh astronomer Bob Berman. You can watch the Slooh webcast at Slooh.com, and ask questions via Twitter @Slooh. Viewers can also submit questions via Slooh's chat room, where you can also control the StarShare camera live and snap night-sky...

The summer solstice is upon us: Monday, June 20, will be the longest day of 2016 for anyone living north of the equator. If pagan rituals are your thing, this is probably a big moment for you. If not, the solstice is still pretty neat. This year’s even includes a "strawberry moon," the first time that’s happened since 1967. Below is a short scientific guide to the longest day of the year (though not, as we’ll see, the longest day in Earth’s history — that happened back in 1912).

Explanation: Today the Sun reaches its northernmost point in planet Earth's sky. Called a solstice, the date traditionally marks a change of seasons -- from spring to summer in Earth's Northern Hemisphere and from fall to winter in Earth's Southern Hemisphere. The featured image was taken during the week of the 2008 summer solstice at Stonehenge in United Kingdom, and captures a picturesque sunrise involving fog, trees, clouds, stones placed about 4,500 years ago, and a 4.5 billion year old large glowing orb. Even given the precession of the Earth's rotational axis over the millennia, the Sun continues to rise...

An annual dog meat festival in south-west China has begun, amid uproar on the part of animal rights activists. About 10,000 dogs will be slaughtered for their meat at the Lychee and Dog Meat Festival in Yulin in Guangxi province on Sunday and Monday to mark the summer solstice, state media said. City officials have distanced themselves from the gathering. "Some residents of Yulin have the habit of coming together to eat lychees and dog meat during the summer solstice," the city's news office wrote on Weibo.

Saturday, 21 June, 2003, 12:32 GMT 13:32 UK Solstice revellers watch sunrise Revellers said the sunrise over the stones was "spectacular" More than 30,000 people gathered at Stonehenge in Wiltshire to mark the summer solstice. Ahead of the midsummer event police warned people not to hold any unlicensed "mass gatherings" afterwards. English Heritage has reopened the site to the public after it was closed for a number of years. Astrologer Roy Gillett, who was among the crowds there to watch the sunrise just before 0500 BST, said it was important to celebrate this the longest day of the year. (It...