Have you ever wondered why February is the shortest month of the year? NO, its not because it’s terrible and everyone wants it to end immediately, but there’s a proper reason behind it.
It all started when the calendar was invented
Believe it or not, the calendar we know today is actually based on the ancient Roman calendar which was invented in the 8th century BC by a kind named Numa Pompilius.
On a lighter note, its rumored that Emperor August Caesar stole and deliberately added a day to August in love of his name.
But, lets get serious, the real reason February is shorter because the first calendar had only 10 months. DID YOU KNOW THIS? Farming was a big deal and important in Ancient Rome that Kind Pompilius didn’t even bother to name the time in between the harvests. The calendar year began in March and ended in December. Everything else was just called Winter!
However, they began to lose track of moon cycles/ phases. The Lunar calendar had 355 days a year and 12 lunar months while the Roman calendar only accounted for 10 months
HOLD ON! DON’T BE CONFUSED. The Romans felt the same way. Keep reading to find the real reason…
The Romans were at odds. Were they to follow the 12 month Lunar calendar or the new 10 month calendar invented by the king. To solve this, the kind simply added two more months after December and called them January and February.
So, did this solve the problem? No!
This caused more problems because ancient Romans thought that even numbers were unlucky!
One month had to be an even number so poor February drew the unlucky straw and ended up with 28 days! Probably just because it was the last month of the year. YES! You read that correct! Back then the start of the new year was the 1st of March, not January as is now.
Much later, Julius Caesar rearranged the calendar one more time, giving it the 365 days, we know today. THE REST IS HISTORY!
