February- The Multifaceted Month!

1. February- The Multifaceted Month! February is so awesome, it can have 28, 29, or even 30 days!

2. The Second Calendar Month • February is the secondmonth of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. It is the shortest Gregorian month and the only month with the length of 28 or 29 days. The month has 29 days in leap years, when the year number is divisible four (but not by 400). In other years the month has 28 days.

3. The Julian Calendar • The Julian calendar was introduced by Julius Caesar in 46 BC, taking force in 45 BC or 709 ab urbe condita. It was chosen after consultation with the Alexandrian astronomer Sosigenes and was probably designed to approximate the tropical year, known at least since Hipparchus. It has a regular year of 365 days divided into 12 months, and a leap day is added every 4 years, hence its average year is 365.25 days. The calendar remained in use into the 20th century in some countries and is still used by many national Orthodox churches.

4. Problems with the Julian Calendar  • However with this scheme too many leap days are added with respect to the astronomical seasons, which on average occur earlier in the calendar by about 11 minutes per year. It is said that Caesar was aware of the discrepancy, but felt it was of little importance. In the 16th century the Gregorian calendar reform was introduced to improve its accuracy with respect to the time of the vernal equinox and the synodic month (for Easter). Sometimes the reference Old Style or O.S., as opposed to 'New Style' for the Gregorian Calendar, is used when there is a confusion about which date is found in a text

5. The Gregorian Calendar • The Gregorian calendar is the calendar currently used in the Western world. A modification of the Julian calendar, it was first proposed by the Neapolitan doctor Aloysius Lilius, and was decreed by Pope Gregory XIII, for whom it was named, on February 24, 1582 (Note: The papal bull Inter gravissimas was signed in the year 1581 for unknown reasons, but printed on 1 March in 1582. But other contemporaneous papal bulls have years that do not agree with March years, let alone papal years or other types of years.)

6. Why is February called that? • February was named for the Roman godFebruus, 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 BCE in order to bring the calendar in line with a standard lunar year.

7. Numa Pompilius- Great Man! • According to legend, Numa Pompilius was the second of the Kings of Rome, succeeding Romulus. His wife, the goddess Egeria, met him by a spring in a sacred grove and taught him how to be a wise legislator. He was later celebrated for his piety. Wishing to show his favour, the god Mars caused a shield to fall from the sky on the Palatine Hill, which had letters of prophecy written on it, and in which the fate of Rome as a city was tied up

8. Intercalary month? What’s that? • 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.

9. Mercedonius Explained • Mercedonius was a month in the ancient Roman calendar. Also known as Intercalaris it was a intercalary month of 22 days, being inserted into the month of Februarius only in leap years. • Originally this month was inserted every two years to realign the Numa's 355 day calendar with the seasons. Later a system inserting several months every eight years was adopted from the Greek calendar. Neither system reflected the true length of the year very well and priests often forgot to insert the months at the proper times.

10. February and 30 days? Say What? • In 1929 the Soviet Union introduced a revolutionary calendar in which every month had 30 days and the remaining 5 or 6 days were monthless holidays. In 1930 and 1931, it thus had a February 30, but in 1932 the months regained their old lengths. • Thus 1700 was not a leap year in Sweden, but both 1704 and 1708 were leap years contrary to the plan. This brought the Swedish calendar one day ahead of the Julian calendar but still ten days behind the Gregorian calendar. This confusion was reduced when, in 1712, two leap days were added, thus giving that year a February 30.

11. Events in February • February 12 is Lord Faust Birthday • February 14 is St. Valentine's Day • February 21 is Language Martyrs' Day celebrated by Bengali-speaking people • February 21 is International Mother Language Day • In the United States, February is Black History Month. • February's flower is the primrose. • February's birthstone is the amethyst.