February
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February is the second month of the calendar year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It is the shortest 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 by four (except for years that are divisible by 100 and not by 400 in the Gregorian calendar). In other years the month has 28 days. Leap year birthdays are usually celebrated on the 28th of a non-leap year. Some believe that February originally had 29 days (30 in a leap year), but that idea was invented by Sacrobosco during the Middle Ages. See lengths of the months.
February was named after the Latin term februum, which means purification, via the purification ritual Februa held on February 15 of the month in the old Roman calendar. January and February were the last two months to be added to the Roman calendar, since the Romans originally considered winter a monthless period. They were added by Numa Pompilius about 700 BC. February remained the last month of the calendar year until the time of the decemvirs (c. 450 BC), when it became the second month. At certain intervals Roman priests inserted an intercalary month, Intercalaris, after February to realign the year with the seasons. See from Roman to Julian. Thereafter, it remained the second month of the calendar year, meaning the order that months are displayed (January, February, March, …, December) within a year-at-a-glance calendar. Even during the Middle Ages, when the numbered Anno Domini year began on March 25 or December 25, February continued to be the second month whenever all twelve months were displayed in order.
February begins, astronomically speaking, with the sun in the constellation of Capricornus and ends with the sun in the constellation of Aquarius. Astrologically speaking, February begins with the sun in the sign of Aquarius and ends in the sign of Pisces.
Historical names for February include the Anglo-Saxon terms Solmoneth (mud month) and Kale-monath (named for cabbage) as well as Charlemagne's designation Hornung. In Finnish, the month is called helmikuu, meaning "month of the pearl".
"February" is pronounced without the first "r," as "Febuary," by many speakers. This is probably elision, or an analogical change influenced by "January".
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[edit] Events in February
- Black History Month (United States and Canada)
- National School Counseling Week (first week, United States)
- Groundhog Day (February 2)
- Mardi Gras (Sometime between February 3 to March 9 in non-leap years or February 4 to March 9 in leap years)
- Ash Wednesday (Sometime between February 4 and March 10)
- Waitangi Day, New Zealand (February 6)
- The Super Bowl
- NFL Pro Bowl
- NBA All-Star game
- Daytona 500
- Westminster Dog Show
- St. Valentine's Day (February 14)
- Presidents' Day (3rd Monday of February), or Washington's Birthday (February 22)
- Lincoln's Birthday (February 12)
- Darwin Day celebration
- Constitution Day (Mexico) (February 5)
- Carnaval (Celebrated before Lent)
- American Heart Month
- Library Lovers Month
- National Condom Month[citation needed]
- National Bird-Feeding Month
- The Great Backyard Bird Count
- National Hot Breakfast Month
- Imbolc February 2
- Thinking Day (Girl Guides) February 22
- B.P. day (Scouts Canada) February 22
- Founder's Day (Scout Association (UK)) February 22
- National Engineers Week (week of Presidents day) (United States)
- Independence Day (Dominican Republic) (February 27)
- International Mother Language Day (February 21)
[edit] Trivia
- February begins on the same day of the week as March and November in a common year, and on the same day of the week as August in a leap year.
- On a few occasions in history, February has had 30 days.
- February in the Northern Hemisphere is the seasonal equivalent to August in the Southern Hemisphere and vice versa.
- February's birthstone is amethyst.
- February's flower is the violet or primrose.
- The Chinese floral emblem of February is the peach blossom.
