June comes with camping trips, fishing adventures and the sweet freedom of school’s end. It’s a month filled with wedding bells, Wimbledon cheers, colorful Pride Month parades and holidays like Father’s Day, Flag Day and Juneteenth. But did you know June’s roots are as rich as its festivities? Here’s a look at its surprising history—from ancient rituals to modern celebrations. 

June, often linked with sunny days and the arrival of summer, likely owes its name to Juno, the Roman goddess of marriage, fertility and childbirth. In ancient Rome, Juno was celebrated as the guardian of women and a symbol of family and fresh starts—making June a prime time for weddings. 

Others trace its name to “Junius,” a prominent Roman family, or the Latin “juvenis,” meaning young people. Before the Julian calendar came along in 45 B.C. June was the year’s fourth month. 

In the Northern Hemisphere, the summer solstice lands around June 20-21, signaling the year’s longest day and shortest night. Ancient cultures marked the occasion with celebrations, like the Celts’ Litha, which involved lighting bonfires, believed to ward off evil spirits and bring a bountiful harvest. 

June’s full moon, the strawberry moon, is named by Native Americans for the wild strawberries ripe for picking at this time. With its longer daylight hours and warming temperatures, the month also brings the first harvest of crops like greens, peas, beans, new potatoes, carrots, blueberries and, of course, strawberries.

On June 30, 1908, an exploded asteroid flattened an estimated 80 million trees and sparked forest fires across some 830 square miles of Siberia. The event went largely unnoticed due to the area’s remoteness (and Russia's political turmoil)—that is, until 1927, when a scientific expedition found evidence of the explosion, but no asteroid remnants, believed to have vaporized mid-air. To memorialize what is now known as the Tunguska event, June 30 is observed as International Asteroid Day. 

June is packed with unique celebrations beyond the usual holidays. The Vestalia festival in ancient Rome honored Vesta, goddess of the hearth, with Vestal Virgins tending a sacred flame in her temple. Men were not allowed in the temple during the festival, which Emperor Theodosius closed after he issued the Edict of Thessalonica in A.D. 380, making Christianity Rome’s official religion.  

June 24 marks the Feast of St. John the Baptist, which dates back to the Fourth century and honors the birth of the Biblical prophet. Also known as “summer Christmas,” the feast is celebrated by some countries—both religiously and secularly—with bonfires, candlelit processions or fireworks. In the Philippines, the capital city of San Juan marks the feast day with an annual Wattah Wattah Festival, where revelers spend the day getting splashed, sprayed and soaked. 

In London, the Knollys Rose Ceremony, dating back to 1381, marks an annual June tradition, where the city's Lord Mayor receives a red rose as symbolic rent for a footbridge built without permission by the wife of Sir Robert Knolly, a British statesman who served several English monarchs, including Henry VIII. An avid gardener, Lady Constance Knolly had the footbridge built so she could more easily access her beloved rose plots.

Over in India, June is bustling with festivals, including Ambubachi Mela, celebrating Kamakhya, the goddess of fertility and womanhood; the Sindhu Darshan Festival, where celebrants come from around India to celebrate the mighty Indus River and promote unity and harmony among states by bringing a pot of water from their own regional rivers; and the International Mango Festival, held in Delhi to celebrate the fruit with everything from eating and carving competitions to tastings to slogan writing.

If you’re in Michigan, you might celebrate National Log Cabin Day the last Sunday of June. Legislation passed in 1989 makes it the lone state with a yearly festival that includes tours of historic log cabins, with some dating back to before 1840. And in Brooklyn, June brings the annual Coney Island Mermaid Parade, known for its pageantry of mer-folk and fantastical sea creatures, and culminating in the crowning of King Neptune and Queen Mermaid.

Fireflies (aka lightning bugs) often symbolize summer and are especially active in early June, which marks their peak mating season. Among them, synchronous fireflies, known for their coordinated flashes, create stunning light displays that last two to three weeks. This natural event, particularly associated with the species Photinus carolinus, is a rare phenomenon in North America.

In places like the Great Smoky Mountains, on the Tennessee/North Carolina border, and Congaree National Park in South Carolina, which host large populations of these fireflies, the displays attract so many visitors that lottery systems have been implemented to manage crowds.