Why does February have 28 and 29 days? Why is February the shortest month? Have you tried to increase the number of days in February

Responsible for the head of the department of meteorology

and Climatology SSU, Doctor of Physics and Mathematics

Science Mikhail Bogdanov:

February is the most unusual month of the year. It appeared on the calendar later than others, and the number of days in it has changed more than once. Initially, the ancient Roman calendar year began on March 1, was divided into ten months and lasted only 304 days. Around 690 B.C. e. The ruler of ancient Rome, Numa Pompilius, added January and February to the calendar. February was dedicated to the god of the underworld, Februus, and its name comes from the Latin word februare - "to purify". It became the last month of the year, so it had only 28 days.

In 46 BC. e. Julius Caesar carried out another calendar reform. The Julian calendar was based on a tropical year of 365.2422 days. But the calendar year must contain an integer number of days, so a cycle of four years was introduced: three simple years of 365 days each, and a fourth, leap year, 366. At the same time, the average duration of a calendar year of 365.25 days turns out to be quite close to a tropical year. Julius Caesar also ordered the number of days in months according to this principle: odd - 31 days, even - 30. February in a normal year was supposed to have 29, and in a leap year - 30 days. The new calendar began to operate on January 1, 45 BC. e., but a year later Julius Caesar died, and an unfortunate mistake crept into the calendar - the Roman priests declared leap years not every fourth, but every third year. The situation was corrected by Emperor Augustus. In gratitude for this, the Roman Senate in 8 BC. e. renamed the month sextilis to augustus. But it had 30 days, and the ancient Romans believed that even numbers bring bad luck. Therefore, another day was added to August, taking it away from February. Since then, February has 28 days in common years and 29 in leap years.

Everyone knows that there are a dozen months in a year, each with 30 or 31 days. February is the shortest month of the year with only 28 days. If the year is a leap year, then in February there is one more day, that is, 29. But neither 30, nor even 31 days have ever been there and never will be. At the same time, we rarely think about such a reason for the strangeness of the calendar. Oncology Israel sign up at israel-hospitals.ru

Why is February full of days?

First of all, it is worth understanding why it is in February, and not in any other month of the year, that there is such a truncated duration. So, we calculate the passage of time according to the Gregorian calendar. But he was not the primary source of timekeeping. Here, as in a fairy tale about a turnip, one is tied to the other. In other words, this calendar is based on the Julian, which, in turn, originated and is generally similar to the ancient Roman. And the Romans considered the beginning of each year not winter, but spring - the time of the awakening of nature, a new round of life and all that. Based on this, it turns out that February was the last month of the year, and if we cut something, then only in it, and not somewhere in the middle of the year.

Previously, the Romans had 304 days in a year, which were divided into 10 equal months of 34 days each. But then it was decided to tie the flow and counting of time to the solar calendar and the corresponding cycle. An emperor named Pompilius in his decree ordered to rebuild the chronology. And then came the month we call January. It was from him that it was decided to count the beginning of each next year in a new way.

Months were conventionally divided into even and, accordingly, odd. The first category had 30 days, and the second category, respectively, 31 days. But having counted all 12 months in this way, it turned out that there are not enough days for February. There was nowhere to take them from, so the month remained “shortened”.

It is believed that the year is not just 365 days, but also several hours. But it is impossible to celebrate the onset of the new year every time at a different time, because these very hours are simply not taken into account. They are simply summed up in a leap year. By the way, from the ancient Greek "leap year" means "twice the sixth". Later, Christianity attached its dogmas to this designation and the year began to be considered bad for any undertakings, whether it be marriage or a change of residence. However, life did not stop people simply did not follow this prejudice fanatically.

There is a leap year every four years. And the reform of the chronology, in which time was counted in this way, was adopted under Gaius Julius Caesar. By the way, the month of July was named after him. The next to be immortalized in the corresponding month was Emperor Octavian Agust. This is how the name of the third and last summer month appeared. But, an odd number of days in any month was considered a good sign, because in two summer months in a row there are 30 days each. It is understandable, can it be otherwise in the imperial months? The name February comes from the ancient Greek "febrium", which is interpreted as "purification". It was recommended to devote this entire period to spiritual purification, reflection on life and whether this or that person lives correctly. This is the month that sums up the results of the year. According to tradition, people had to communicate with the gods of the underworld, that is, those to whom they would go after death. This period made us think about the frailty and transience of earthly existence. After the popularization of Christianity, they imposed their traditions on the already established ones, so it was easier to "accustom" people to the new religion. And in February, Lent begins. Apparently then, so that nothing distracts from thoughts about the frailty and sinfulness of being. There is another explanation for this: stocks for the winter ran out corny, but it was impossible to cut livestock, because there would be no one to plow the land on in the spring. So it was necessary to find a good reason to starve.

Have you ever wondered why all months have 31 or 30 days and only February is “deprived”, having received only 28 days? What is so remarkable about this winter month? And why does an “extra” day appear once every four years? To understand and answer these questions, you need to turn to history.

Natural units of time

The first unit of time was the day. Even an ancient person could determine the beginning and end of light and dark time. It was the alternation of days and nights that led to the concept of day. Therefore, it is not surprising that the solar day became the main unit of time measurement. This is the time it takes for the Earth to make a full rotation around its axis relative to the Sun, or, in other words: the time interval from noon of one day to noon of the next.

In the same way, the year was easily determined - this is a regular change of seasons. Later, with the development of astronomy, this change was associated with the rotation of the Earth around the Sun. The concept came that the full revolution of the Earth around the Sun is another natural unit of time: the annual cycle.

However, a day is too short an interval of time, and a year is too long. There was a need to introduce intermediate portions of time.

When did the months appear

The division of years into months is quite random and the root cause may be lunar cycles and lunar calendars based on this, common in southern countries, where there were no pronounced seasonal changes.

Initially, in the ancient Roman state, the annual cycle consisted of 304 days, divided into 10 months, and it began in March. The Romans borrowed this system from the ancient Greeks.

For 700 years BC. e. The second king of Ancient Rome, Numa Pompilius, carried out a reform using the knowledge of the Etruscans: their calendar contained 12 months. He brought the duration of the annual cycle to 365 days and added the last two months: January and February. In this calendar, all months had an odd number of days (even numbers were considered unlucky) and contained 31 or 29 days, except for the very last month of the year - February. It had only 28 days - as much as left after the "distribution" to other months.

It remains to find out where the 29th day in February comes from.

chronology

But first you need to determine exactly how many days is one annual cycle.

The daily rotation of the Earth around its axis and the annual rotation around the Sun are independent processes, and it would be incredible if the period of a full circle consisted of exactly an integer number of days.

If the duration of the usual cycle of the year is determined as 365 days, then after each revolution of the Earth around the Sun, an extra 6 hours remain, and in 4 years 24 hours will accumulate, that is, a whole day.

They are added to February as the 29th day every four years. Such a year is called a leap year, and it is also an Olympic year. Its distinguishing feature: the number of the year is completely divisible by four.

Julian calendar

A calendar built in this way is called a Julian calendar. He was approved in 45 BC. e. Julius Caesar. In this case, the knowledge and observations accumulated in ancient Egypt over the millennia of its civilization were used.

Caesar moved the beginning of the annual calculation to January 1, when new consuls took office in Rome. An attempt was made to roughly equalize the number of days in months, but when, under the emperor Octavian Augustus, one day was taken from February to add to the namesake of the emperor - the month of August, the usual (non-leap) February irrevocably became a 28-day month.

Gregorian calendar

The Earth makes a complete revolution around the Sun in 365.24222 days. In the Julian calendar, the average duration of the annual cycle is taken equal to 365.25 days, which is more than the true value.

This time, accumulated with each revolution of the Earth around the Sun, will turn into a whole day in 128 years. Millennia from now, Christmas will be in the summer, and Easter will have to be celebrated in the fall.

The Church, preoccupied with this problem, has long tried to reform the calendar, but only in 1582 this improved version was legalized in Catholic countries by the decision of Pope Gregory XIII, and then spread throughout the world.

The changes made to the Julian calendar were simple and painless. The average duration of the annual cycle was determined to be 365.2425 days, which is much closer to the true value.

From this follows a simple way of constructing the Gregorian calendar. To obtain such an average annual time interval averaged over 400 years, it is necessary to regulate the duration of February by adding the 29th day or, conversely, subtracting it.

February is the shortest month of the year, in leap years it has 29 days, and in other years - 28. AiF.ru figured out why this happened.

Roman heritage

The calendar by which we live came to us from Ancient Rome. Initially, it had ten months, and the year began in March. King Numa in the 8th century BC. I decided to put the calendar in order so that it would be more in line with the phases of the moon and the movement of the sun. As a result of the reform, two additional months were introduced - January and February.

During the reign Julius Caesar it was established that even months should last 30 days, and odd ones - 31. February, which then fell at the end of the year, did not get the required number of days. As a result, this winter month received only 29 days at its disposal. In 44 BC. e. the popular ruler dies, and the new Roman administration decides to rename the month of July Quintilis in his honor. Subsequently, who died in 14 BC. e. Emperor Octavian Augustus also honored with a nominal month. Since August and July followed each other, they had a different number of days in those days. Officials for political reasons decided to equalize the merits of both rulers up to 31 days. This approach required borrowing an extra day from another month. A strong-willed decision to "pin off" the day was decided in February. The choice was explained, most likely, by the fact that this month had a bad reputation among the Romans, since it was at this time of the year that it was customary to commemorate the dead.

Why does February have 28 or 29 days?

The system of leap years, in which not 365, but 366 days, was also introduced by Julius Caesar. This was done so that the calendar year would correspond to the period of rotation of the Earth around the Sun, which is 365.25 days (365 days and 6 hours). To do this, it is necessary to increase the number of days in the calendar by one every four years. The choice for ease of remembering again fell on February, since at that time it was the last month of the year.

Photo: Shutterstock.com

Have you tried to increase the number of days in February?

Yes, they tried. In 1930, the possibility of introducing a revolutionary Soviet calendar that included February 30 was discussed in the USSR, but the proposal was not accepted.

signs of february

In February, severe frosts - a short winter.

Long February icicles promise a long winter.

February is cold and dry - August is hot.

Warm February brings cold spring.

In February, there is a lot of frost on the trees - there will be a lot of honey.

If February is rainy, then spring and summer can be expected the same, and if it is weathery, then this portends a drought.

The beginning of February is more serene - and expect an early spring, more beautiful.

The colder the last week of February, the warmer it is in March.

Oh, it's good that he's already here. Last day of winter. A little more, and it will be possible to send warm jackets to the closet, and a sweater to be torn apart by moths. By the way, who and why so unfairly cheated February and (to the delight of everyone) reduced it to 28 days? This is the real reason why the last winter month is so short.

What calendar does most of the world's population live by? That's right, Gregorian. Although, of course, options are possible, but all our technique and common sense are tied to it. That's just the Gregorian calendar is based on the Julian, and the Julian - on the ancient Roman. Why are we? And to the fact that for all the oddities with February, you need to say “thank you” to the Romans.

Once upon a time in ancient Rome, the year lasted only 10 months: it began in March and ended in December. For peasant farmers and the warm Mediterranean climate, this was quite enough. Until the emperor Num Pompilius decided that it would be necessary to synchronize the reckoning with 12 lunar cycles. So two new (and not very popular) months appeared in the Roman calendar: January and February. Each had 28 days, but it was soon decided to add one more in January. After all, an even number of days in a year, according to the superstitious Roman intelligentsia, would lead to misfortune.

Everything worked well, but after a couple of years, the cycle finally went astray. The introduction of another "additional" month, the onset of which was determined by the priests, did not improve the situation in any way. At that time, the Empire was headed Julius Caesar and quickly put things in order: he introduced a four-year system, where 3 years lasted 365 days each, and one (leap year) - 366. At the same time, “odd” months had strictly 31 days, and even ones - 30. February, as the smallest, got 29 days and 30 in a leap year. And at the same time, the emperor also named his favorite summer month after himself.

And so we would have coped with the long cold February, if not for the formidable Octavian August. As we remember, the Romans had a difficult relationship with even numbers. So August did not like that "his" month has 30 unlucky days. That is why he urgently demanded to add +1 to August. And this was done only at the expense of the same “insignificant” (non-sowing and lean) February. This is why a 31-day July is followed by a similar August, and February has only 28 days. But who's complaining?

By the way, the heat-loving Romans also did not really like February. In this month, it was impossible to marry or start wars, but one should only pray and appease the gods of the underworld. And someone is now saying what February is “gloomy”.
And here's another