February is the ‘love’ month as Valentine’s Day falls in this month. People openly express their true feelings and love for each other. Have you ever wondered what each month in our calendar has at least 30 days? Then what’s wrong with February?
Why only February was considered to be the leap month that varied with 28 or 29 days every year?
Why February Is The Shortest Month?
The calendar we know and follow today is very ancient. This ancient Roman calendar was invented by king Numa Pompilius, The Emperor of Rome in 8th century BC.
Via: Historian’s Hut Articles
You may be shocked to know that the earlier calendar was only 10 months long. It was later that Augustus Caesar made it up to 12 months long. Another theory says that King Augustus stole one day from February to add to the month representing his name- August.
The ancient Romans harvested Wheat and Barley and farming was a major part of their lives. They only cared to name the seasons during the time of harvest and therefore their calendar began from March and ended with December. The duration between the harvest was not given any name by King Pompilius. The rest was just termed as ‘Winter’.
This calendar eventually failed to fall in sync with the lunar calendar that tracked the phases of the moon. The Lunar Calendar counted 355 days a year and 12 lunar months whereas the Roman calendar counted only 10 months a year.
Via: The Romans in Britain
The Romans were in conflict whether to follow the 12-month calendar or 10-month calendar. To solve this confusion, King Pompilius added two months after December and named them January and February.
The Romans considered even numbers to be really unlucky. King Pompilius made the months 29 and 31 days long which disturbed the lunar calendar calculations yet again. To balance out the number of days February took the call and was made 28 days long. Since February was added in the last it had only 28 days.
It was later that Julius Caesar rearranged the calendar and made it 365 days long. February is still left is the shortest month but with love, it gets in our lives we are happy with it.