February trivia

Why did the month of February get the not-so-royal treatment?

When Julius Caesar reformed the calendar in 45 B.C., the months alternated between 30 and 31 days, with the exception of February which had 29 days and 30 in a leap year.

To honor our boy Julius, the Roman Senate named the month of July after him. Later, Julius's grandnephew Augustus came to power, and the Roman senate also wanted to honor him with his own month.

However, due to the alternating calendar system, the month of August would only have 30 days.

To prevent any argument that Emperor Augustus had an inferior month, August was lengthened to 31 days. The extra day needed to inflate the importance of August was taken from February.

You may now consider yourselves enlightened.