It’s The First Day Of Autumn in Rockford

Yes, I know, it's also the first day of Autumn in the entire Northern Hemisphere. Let's take a look at some facts about today that you may not have known.

Congratulations. You've made it to the mid-point between the longest and the shortest days of the year. At 2:50 this morning, the sun was directly over the Equator and with that celestial event, parts of the Earth get nearly the same amount of daylight and darkness.

You'll hear lots of people say "Fall is my favorite season!" It might be, until it dawns on those same folks that we're just one step closer to saying "Where did I put the snow shovels?"

For both Autumn lovers and haters, here are a few things (culled from the internet, so they must be true) about the season that will certainly increase your body of knowledge and help you bore your dinner companions tonight (Big thanks to JustFunFacts.com):

• Autumn is derived from the French, which came from the Latin autumnus, the Roman name for this season.
• While Americans typically use the word “fall,” the British use the word “autumn,” though both terms date around the 16th century. Before these terms, the period was called “harvest.”
• In addition to the brilliant colors of fall leaves, the autumn equinox signals another colorful spectacle —the aurora. According to NASA, autumn is “aurora season” because geomagnetic storms are about twice as frequent as the annual average during the fall.
• In Greek mythology, Autumn began when Persephone was abducted by Hades to be the Queen of the Underworld. In distress Persephone’s mother, Demeter (the goddess of the harvest), caused all the crops on Earth to die until her daughter was allowed to return, marking Spring.
• According to seasonal patterns of relationships in Facebook profiles, autumn is the time when more singles change their status to “In a Relationship” or “Engaged” than the yearly average.
• Levels of testosterone in both men and women are at their highest in the fall. Scientists speculate the surge may be a result of ancient mating instincts or that decreasing daylight somehow triggers it.
• No film with autumn in its title has won an Oscar. Spring, summer and winter have one each.
• Since 1997, Autumn has been one of the top 100 names for girls in the United States.
• A study in the Journal of Aging Research found that babies born during the Autumn months are more likely to live to 100 than those born during the rest of the year.