Scorching, long-duration heat wave to roast much of U.S.
Source: Axios
July is typically the hottest month of the year, for both the U.S. and the planet as a whole. However, this year it is going to start off particularly hot across the country, as a dangerous heat wave stretches from Arizona to Maine.
Why it matters: The heat and humidity will combine to create life-threatening conditions in many cities, particularly in the Midwest and Northeast, where heat advisories and excessive heat warnings are in effect.
The cause: A sprawling and unusually intense area of high pressure aloft, also known as a "heat dome," will promote sinking air and sunny, storm-free conditions for areas under its influence.
At the peak of the heat wave between July 1 and the Fourth of July holiday, more than 50% of the lower 48 states are forecast to see high temperatures exceeding 90 degrees Fahrenheit.
Read more: https://www.axios.com/scorching-heat-wave-hits-us-millions-affected-20cda585-2f74-4bd4-8aed-d3826d2c4126.html
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I was a freshman in high school during the bicentennial and I believe the teacher of one of my classes ("Poetry" ) took us to see that musical here. It's been so long ago but I believe it did run here at the Forrest theater back in the spring of 1976. It would make sense since the play was about the events here.
Supposedly it was "hot as hell" INSIDE the state house and adjoining buildings though... 
Back then, they also wore all natural fibers (obviously) - cotton and/or wool... But then that area of the city (Olde City) is just a few blocks from the Delaware River and back then, the river came pretty close to being at Front Street (& via a canal along Dock Street). There was no such thing as Delaware Ave. (let alone I-95) because that strip was underwater and only came about after river dredging a couple centuries later. I remember in the '70s (I was in high school) when they were constructing that "final" portion of I-95 that runs along there and it's so much different there even during my lifetime - with Penn's Landing, etc). So there were some "breezes" off the river and even a now-gone island that was in the middle of the river that people there would go to by ferry back then, in order to cool off. Plus many of them had "summer" homes in the "suburbs" (now NW Philly - including Germantown, Mt. Airy and Chestnut Hill), which are at a higher elevation and much "cooler" (relatively) in summer.
cool this spring and summer so far.
BRDS
lol@1776 in the '70s
and will be feeling like the tropics this weekend for sure!
and "summered" in the cooler, hilly rural areas of southeast PA (mostly within what is currently the city limits but not so back then). Many of the houses then (a few are still around here and there) were built specifically to deal with the weather including the heat - where some had strategically-placed breezeways and all had plenty of windows to open, as well as having cool "root cellars".
In general, even though the "Olde City" part of Philly had quite a few brick/mortar buildings (homes/stores) then, they didn't have black asphalt streets or multi-story skyscrapers to consolidate the heat. lol The streets were either cobblestone or dirt or brick. The roofs were not asphalt shingles but clay tiles or slate or even wood. They were also close to the river and when the wealthy fled the heat, the "peasants" fled to the river or the wooded parks that William Penn had setup here some 300 years ago (that are still here).
But as a note - people eventually get acclimatized to wherever they are although obviously you rarely heard about those who suffered heat stroke or exhaustion which they probably did.
When I was in Egypt about 25 years ago, I was there the last week of July and into August, eventually trekking through towns along the Nile with desert on both sides, from the north of the country to the south. When we were in Edfu, the temp had reached 125F (but only 10% humidity). The guides and folks in the town had everything covered from head to toe - but all cotton. You know it's hot when you are feeling your skin burn. I remember seeing a long sinewy dog lying in the thin shade of a lampost. It was the most fascinating but obviously self-preserving thing I had seen given the spot we were at didn't have trees or much vegetation. But the one thing that Egypt did back then after they built that Aswan dam, was to put up an entire electric grid, from the south to the north. You could go along a bumpy dusty road and find a vendor with an electric refrigerator chest selling bottled water almost in the middle of nowhere.
Dry heat is a bit easier to deal with - just add some humidity to it, then evaporate it, and finally circulate everything with a fan, essentially pulling the heat out via that moisture... which is what they tend to do with cooling in AZ, i.e., the "swamp cooler", which can drop the temp indoors 20 - 30 degrees. Unfortunately you can't do that when you have the humid slop that won't let you sweat. That's when people just sit and fan themselves if there is no AC - you are NOT running around like people expect you to do in America nowadays. 
I landed there 20 years ago when I flew out to visit a lady friend who lived in Scranton, but didn't get a chance to really explore the city much. It was the middle of summer, hotter than the hinges of hell, and I recall sweating buckets while everyone else was just kinda lightly perspiring. I kept asking how the hell they survived this kind of humidity. Then I discovered why basements are a thing.
Of course, the reverse was true when friends visited me in AZ. I was used to the dry heat, so I thought it was amusing the way my friends guzzled water like they'd just trekked through the Sahara. They were mystified that I was wearing jeans instead of shorts, and an undershirt beneath my t-shirt.
You're right, though, that people do get acclimatized eventually. I grew up in Ocean Springs, MS, so it was always humid. I moved to AZ in my late teens, and for the first year or two, the lack of humidity was troublesome. I was in the shower once, and when I opened my eyes after washing my hair, I was shocked to see blood in the water. Turned out it was so dry that the inside of my nose cracked and bled. That freaked me right the hell out, let me tell you, but I did eventually get used to it.
Now here I am in southern Ontario, and it seems like my body is stubbornly refusing to adjust back to the humidity. I dread the summers. Like today, for instance... I got all my running around done as early as I could, and now I'm holed up in the house with the curtains drawn and the A/C going for all it's worth.
I know Philly is getting the heat wave just like we are here in Hamilton, so I hope you're staying cool! Thank you for the history lesson about Philly and its environs. Hopefully someday I'll get the chance to visit again. There's so much history, and I adore things like that! If I ever do find myself heading out that way, I might hit you up for a list of places that'd be neat to visit since you're clearly quite a historian!
I was just up in Niagara Falls (on the Canadian side) a few years ago in the middle of July. Yes it was hot hot hot. But at least those gigantic falls were nearby and the lake does help a bit to moderate some of the temps (although they produce the nightmarish "lake effect snow" too). So wasn't that far from you back then while traversing that hilly little town.
Have also been to Windsor probably 20 years ago (popped over from Detroit). Of course nowadays it would be a nightmare at the border (it was getting to that point even a few years ago... 
)
My poor city often gets shafted in favor of Boston or NY. I used to work in that historic area and going out to lunch one day, remember hearing some tourists whose kid asked his Mom where the Constitution was drafted and signed, and whether it was in Boston.... and she said yes (this is while they were literally a few blocks away from where it WAS drafted & signed).
But... at least we won the Super Bowl!
