Why only 28 days in February?
Why can't we take two days from the 31-day months and give them to February to balance things out?
Well I can't answer the second question, but here's a quick recap to bring us up to speed as to why we are where we are now. P.S. This answer has been lifted by a place called askeville.
Back in the days of Julius Caesar, the months alternated: 31 days, 30 days, 31 days, etc, for a total of 366 days. Then Julius decided he wanted a month named after him. He took the seventh month, named it July, and shoved the rest of the other months a notch down with the last month dropping off the end. That month only had 30 days, but he thought his month should be one of the largest. So he took a day out of February and added it to July, giving July 31 days and February 29.
Then when Augustus came along, he wanted a month as well. He couldn’t be ahead of Julius, so he took the month right after July and named it August. He shoved the other months down as Julius had done, and another one dropped off the end. That month had 31 days. Augustus couldn’t be outdone by Julius on the days, so he took another day out of poor February and added to August. February then had 28 days. We lost 31, and gained 30, for a total now of 365 days.
Did you ever wonder why December is the twelfth month and dec stands for ten? And October is the 10th month when oct stands for eight? Now you know.
When they found out the earth takes about 365 and 1/4 days to circle the sun, they had to add a day every four years, which is leap year. This is when February has 29 days. EXCEPT...that the earth takes "about" 365 and 1/4 days to go around, not "exactly".
There is no scientific basis for each month having the number of days it has. A month originally represented the 28 day period of the moon’s cycle. But 12 x 28 = 336. Our year represents the time it takes the earth to go around the sun. As you can see, they don’t match up, so they had to pad the months up a little. This is why the full moon is on a different day every month. And also why women usually have 28 day cycles instead of 30. And why every month has four weeks (28 days) and then some extra days besides.
Here is even more info > http://www.wilkiecollins.demon.co.uk/roman/calhis.htm
Happy Leap Day!
Does today really exist? And if so, what will you do with your free extra day?
February 29 is a date that occurs only every four years, in years evenly divisible by 4, such as 1988, 1996, 2008 or 2016 (with the exception of century years not divisible by 400, such as 1900) for the Gregorian calendar, which is most widely used in the world today. These are called leap years, and February 29 is the 60th day of the Gregorian calendar in such a year, with 306 days remaining until the end of that year. February 29 is also known as Leap Day.
February
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
February was named for the Roman god Februus, the god of purification. January and February were the last two months to be added to the Roman calendar, since the Romans originally considered winter a monthless period. This change was made by Numa Pompilius about 700 BC in order to bring the calendar in line with a standard lunar year. Numa's Februarius contained 29 days (30 in a leap year). Augustus is alleged to have removed one day from February and added it to August, (renamed from Sextilis to honor himself), so that Julius Caesar's July would not contain more days. However there is little historical evidence to support this claim.
February was nominally the last month of the Roman calendar, as the year originally began in March. At certain intervals Roman priests inserted an intercalary month, Mercedonius, after February to realign the year with the seasons.
Historical names for February include the Anglo-Saxon terms Solmoneth (mud month) and Kale-monath (named for cabbage) as well as Charlemagne's designation Hornung. In old Japanese calendar, the month is called Kisaragi (如月, 絹更月 or 衣更月). It is sometimes also called Mumetsuki (梅見月) or Konometsuki (木目月). In Finnish, the month is called helmikuu, meaning "month of the pearl".
"February" is pronounced without the first r, as "Febuary", by many speakers. This is probably elision, or an analogical change influenced by "January".
So…
What else is going on?
It's February already.
What a weird word.
How did they come up with that one?
Why are the months named as they are?
Hmmm..
Perhaps I will WIKI that and report back to you later.