According to The Old Farmer’s Almanac, the approaching Dogs Days of summer cover the span of 40 days between July 3rd and August 11th.* Chances are good you’ve always assumed this period was referred to as the “Dog Days” because any hound worth her salt can be found chilling in a cool, shady corner until the swelter has passed. But it turns out there’s more to it… Assuming you live in a northern latitude, step outside at dawn this time of year and just above the horizon you c

If this sounds like an unlikely historical timeline, don’t worry, it’s not. This glance back at history begins with the Greeks, who not only gave Western civilization democracy, medicine, astronomy, mathematics, philosophy and the Olympics, but also pioneered warm winter nights by inventing the first central heating system. Let’s begin at the sacred Temple of Artemis, built in tribute to the Ephesian goddess of fertility. At least twice the size of the Parthenon and one of th