Although February is the shortest month of the year, We often feel it like it is the longest month. That maybe because of the cold and snowy climates. And this is a question that (maybe) all of the readers want to ask for a long long time. "Why does the month have only 28 or 29 days, when the others are 30 or 31?" Well, prepare yourself, this is the answer...
Firstly you must know this, a little history of our calendar. Long time ago, the original Roman calendar only had ten months, because the winter was not demarcated. But, at about 700 years BC (before century), the second king of Rome, Numa Pompilius, added two month named 'January' and 'February' to the end of the calendar. Yes, the end of the calendar. So, at that time, there wasn't a 'New Years' ceremony at January 1st. At that time, March 1st became New Years’ Day. Later, in 153 BC, the beginning of the year was moved to January 1st. Back to the topic, that addition months are been added a in order to conform to how long it actually takes the Earth to go around the Sun. And at that time, the two new months were both originally 28 days long. It is lost to history why January acquired more days, though there are various unverifiable hypotheses.
The word 'February' itself comes from the Roman festival of purification called 'Februa'. In this festifal, people were ritually washed. Although there is a Roman God called Februus, but he is named after the festival, not the otherwise.
There is a story that tells us that before England adopted the Latin name for the second month (February), Old English used much more vibrant names to describe it. Like 'Solomonath' (wich means 'mud-month') and 'Kale-monanth' (wich means 'cabbage month'). The 'Solomonath' name is more been used. Maybe because there are more mud than cabbage, hehehe... (English were eating a lot of cabbage in February in the 1100s, though).
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