December

It’s been a messy, messy day. Rain and gloom all day long. Here in central Virginia, the day before Christmas Eve, the temperature is a balmy 72°F. The average high here in December is 50°F. The forecast calls for rain and thunderstorms through Christmas Day, then overcast for the weekend, then rain and thunderstorms next week. Wonderful.

Ever wonder why December is the 12th month, even though its Latin root decem- means 10? In fact, the same situation exists for the months of September, October, and November, which mean 7, 8, and 9, although they are our 9th, 10th, and 11th months.

It’s because the ancient Roman calendar had 10 months. The year started on March 1 and ended in December. At some point, January and February were added to the end of the calendar and became the last two months of the year. The calendar continued to evolve and by the time the Julian calendar was instituted by Julius Caesar in 46 AD, the starting date for a new year had become January 1. The original 10 months were pushed toward the end of the year by the two new months (January and February) but they kept their names. So December, originally the 10th month, is now the 12th month.

We no longer use the Julian calendar – we use the Gregorian calendar, named after the man who introduced it in 1582: Pope Gregory XIII. The Gregorian calendar kept the same months in the same order as the Julian calendar. Primarily, the Gregorian calendar changed the way leap years are calculated in order to make the length of a year more accurate.

Now you know. Aren’t you glad you asked?