In my daily review of Smiley Anders Column, entitles "The Smiley Anders Column," a reader corrected him on the difference between St. Medard and another. The Bishop of Winchester was a Benedictine monk who died July 2, 862. Upon his death, he requested to be buried outside so the rain would fall on his grave. Apparently there was a mix-up in the village as he was entombed in a cathedral and a drought began. Once he was buried outside, the drought ended and the rain returned for 40 days. The English tradition states that if it rains on July 15, St. Swithin's Day, it will rain for 40 days. This seems to apply only to England. "St. Swithin's Day if thou dost rain, for 40 days it will remain. St.Swithin's Day if thou be fair, for 40 days 'twill rain nae mair."! Smiley called me yesterday and concocted another diddy... "If in Baton Rouge from May 'til 'tember, the rain may fall on family members." Thanks Smiley...Finally, James Heintze researched weather conditions for the Fourth of July and noted that in New York City from 1789 to 1855 rain fell on thirteen “Fourths.” On July 4, 1860, eight members of the German Fusiliers died from sunstroke in a Charleston, S.C. parade. On July 4, 1874 the New York Herald reported that “whole blocks of houses” in Washington, D.C. lost roofs when a tornado roared through the town. In Boston on July 4, 1831, The National Intelligencer reported that, “The Northern Lights were beautifully vivid at the close of the 4th.” The hottest Independence Days have come from seven cities in the Southwest including: Needles, Palm Springs, Thermal, Daggett and Blythe, CA, Phoenix and Las Vegas, AZ. Schenectady, New York reported an earthquake on July 4, 1806.