1AUGUST2026

Let me first dabble into those wars:

• Gaza Strip.
• Hamas has agreed to disarm.
• Israel maintains skepticism.
• Palestinians mistrust both Israel and Hamas.
• 
  Iran War.
• Iran accused U.S. of escalating tensions.
• Commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz is still down by 95%.
• Houthis blocking the passing of Saudi ships through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait.

Both the old and new versions of this blog site have seen a jump in readership from March of this year, when we flew from Honolulu to Las Vegas for a few days, then on to Memphis to visit Elvis' Graceland, followed by a cruise down the Mississippi to New Orleans.  A short stop there, then on to New York City, followed by a Viking cruise from Manhattan to Toronto.  We then boarded a train towards Vancouver, catching another train to get us there.

Original blog:

• As I compose this posting, first one on 29April2008, this daily blog has had just under 10.5 million viewers over 6669 days, or 1574/day.
• However, the first ten years averaged only 500/day, so more have viewed it in recent years.
•  On 8May2016, after eight years, I finally reached a readership of one million.  I ended with:

  I'm more and more beginning to think that religion is an important part of the social fabric.  Me?  I'll continue to be good, but still need to be convinced that these are not fairy tales, for that matter of eternal gloom is fearsomely disquieting.

  Congratulations, Pat, while writing this post, you passed one million viewers!

  This was a Sunday posting.  Click on this to read the entire article.

• Both the old and new versions of this blog site have seen a jump in readership from March of this year, when we flew from Honolulu to Las Vegas for a few days, then on to Memphis to visit Elvis' Graceland, followed by a cruise down the Mississippi to New Orleans.  A short stop there, then on to New York City, followed by a Viking cruise from Manhattan to Toronto.  We then boarded a train towards Vancouver, catching another train to get us there.

• Recent readership.  In 2026:

• January:  0.14 million
• February:  0.12 million
• March:  0.26 million
• April:  0.65 million
• May:  just over 3 million.
• June:  1.42 million
• July:  0.54 million
• I have noticed that more people read this blog during my travels.  We leave Honolulu for Iceland on Monday, August 3, then board the Azamara Journey on a cruise to watch the Total Eclipse of the Sun on August 12, followed by several stops in Greenland, disembarking in Montreal for a few days, fly to Vancouver for a couple of days, then board the Silver Whisper to Honolulu.
• 221 countries have visited this blog site.  Curiously, Singapore has the highest viewership/capita.
• Address of old blog site:  https://planetearthandhumanity.blogspot.com/

I ran out of labels in the original blog:

• So added a new version on 30September2020.  They are both identical.
• 2131 postings so far, or 217/posting, or an average of 6520/month.
• Readership picked up in mid-2023 with 10,564 in the month of May, then 31,474 in May of 2025, 46,953 in May of 2026 and 55,226 last month.
• Address for new blog site:  https://wawh2.blogspot.com/

From Wikipedia, on August 1 in history:

30 BC – Octavian (later known as Augustus) enters Alexandria, Egypt, executes Marcus Antonius Antyllus,^[1] and brings the city under the control of the Roman Republic.^[2] (date is O.S.)  Antyllus is the son of Marc Antony from his third wife.  Antony also had three children from Cleopatra.

527 – Justinian I becomes the sole ruler of the Byzantine Empire.

1498 – Christopher Columbus becomes the first European to visit what is now Venezuela.

1876 – Colorado is admitted as the 38th U.S. state.

1893 – Henry Perky patents shredded wheat.

1907 – The start of the first Scout camp on Brownsea Island, the origin of the worldwide Scouting movement.

1927 – The Nanchang Uprising marks the first significant battle in the Chinese Civil War between the Kuomintang and Chinese Communist Party. This day is commemorated as the anniversary of the founding of the People's Liberation Army.

1936 – The Olympics open in Berlin with a ceremony presided over by Adolf Hitler.

1965 – Frank Herbert's novel, Dune, is published for the first time. It was named as the world's best-selling science fiction novel in 2003.

1980 – Vigdís Finnbogadóttir is elected President of Iceland and becomes the world's first democratically elected female head of state.  I will be in Iceland in 3 days.

2023 – Former US President Donald Trump is indicted for his role in the January 6 United States Capitol attack, his third indictment in 2023.^[19]

Typhoon Dolphin had weakened to 140 MPH earlier today, but re-gained some strength, and is now at 145 MPH.  In the current track, the eye should make landfall over the main Okinawa island ton Friday, August 7 as a Category 2 (96-110 MPH), but north of Naha.  This is just a projection at this time.

Heard of this song?  First Day in August, by Carol King.

-