The first day of summer in 2014 is Saturday, June 21.
The first day is called the solstice and is celebrated only in the Northern Hemisphere.
The exact time of the solstice is June 21 at 6:51 a.m. EDT.
It’s also the longest day of the year with the most hours of sunlight.
Fall will start on Sept. 23 and winter starts Dec. 21.
At the equator, the days and nights are equal in length, while everywhere else differs.
“A solstice occurs when the sun’s zenith is at its furthest point from the equator. During the June solstice it reaches its northernmost point and the Earth’s North Pole tilts directly towards the sun, at about 23.5 degrees. It is also known as the northern solstice because it occurs when the sun is directly over the Tropic of Cancer in the northern hemisphere. If the Earth’s rotation was at right angles to the plane of its orbit around the sun, there would be no solstice days and no seasons,” says TimeandDate.com.
People who live or are traveling above the Arctic Circle can also view the “midnight sun,” where the sun can be seen through the night.
The word “solstice” comes from “solstitum,” which translates to “stopping the sun” in Latin.
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