February is the second month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars.
It is the shortest month and the only month with fewer than 30 days.
The month has 28 days in common years or 29 days in leap years.
February is the third month of meteorological winter in the Northern Hemisphere.
In the Southern Hemisphere, February is the third month of summer.
February starts on the same day of the week as March and November in common years, and
on the same day of the week as August in leap years.
February ends on the same day of the week as October every year and on the same day
of the week as January in common years only.
Every year, February begins on the same day of the week as June of the previous year.
In common years, February finishes on the same day of the week as May of the previous
year while in leap years February finishes on the same day of the week as August and
November of the previous year.
In common years immediately before other common years, February starts on the same day of
the week as August of the following year while in leap years and years immediately before
that, February starts on the same day of the week as May of the following year.
In leap years, it is the only month that ends on the same weekday it begins.
History
The Roman month Februarius was named after the Latin term februum, which means purification,
via the purification ritual Februa held on February 15 in the old lunar 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 713 BC.
February remained the last month of the calendar year until the time of the decemvirs, when
it became the second month.
At certain intervals February was truncated to 23 or 24 days, and a 27-day intercalary
month, Intercalaris, was inserted immediately after February to realign the year with the
seasons.
Under the reforms that instituted the Julian calendar, Intercalaris was abolished, leap
years occurred regularly every fourth year, and in leap years February gained a 29th day.
Thereafter, it remained the second month of the calendar year, meaning the order that
months are displayed 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, the second month was February whenever all twelve months were displayed in order.
The Gregorian calendar reforms made slight changes to the system for determining which
years were leap years and thus contained a 29-day February.
Historical names for February include the Old English terms Solmonath and Kale-monath
as well as Charlemagne's designation Hornung.
In Finnish, the month is called helmikuu, meaning "month of the pearl"; when snow melts
on tree branches, it forms droplets, and as these freeze again, they are like pearls of
ice.
In Polish and Ukrainian, respectively, the month is called luty or лютий, meaning
the month of ice or hard frost.
In Macedonian the month is sechko, meaning month of cutting [wood].
In Czech, it is called únor, meaning month of submerging [of river ice].
Croatians call the month veljača, whose meaning is unknown but may come from the word for
"greater," a possible reference to the days increasing in length.
In Slovene, February is traditionally called svečan, related to icicles or Candlemas.
This name originates from sičan, written as svičan in the New Carniolan Almanac from
1775 and changed to its final form by Franc Metelko in his New Almanac from 1824.
The name was also spelled sečan, meaning "the month of cutting down of trees".
In 1848, a proposal was put forward in Kmetijske in rokodelske novice by the Slovene Society
of Ljubljana to call this month talnik, but it did not stick.
The idea was proposed by the priest and patriot Blaž Potočnik.
Another name of February in Slovene was vesnar, after the mythological character Vesna.
Pronunciation February may be pronounced either as.
Many people pronounce it as, as if it were spelled "Feb-u-ary".
This comes about by analogy with "January", as well as by a dissimilation effect whereby
having two "r"s close to each other causes one to change for ease of pronunciation.
Patterns February starts on the same day of the week
as both March and November in common years, and as August in leap years.
February ends on the same day of the week as October every year and on the same day
of the week as January in common years only.
In leap years, it is the only month that ends on the same weekday it began.
Having only 28 days in common years, it is the only month of the year that can pass without
a single full moon.
This last happened in 1999 and will next happen in 2018.
February is also the only month of the calendar that once every six years and twice every
11 years consecutively, either back into the past or forward into the future, will have
four full 7-day weeks.
In countries that start their week on a Monday, it occurs as part of a common year starting
on Friday, in which February 1st is a Monday and the 28th is a Sunday, this was observed
in 2010 and can be traced back 11 years to 1999, 6 years back to 1993, 11 years back
to 1982, 11 years back to 1971 and 6 years back to 1965.
In countries that start their week on a Sunday, it occurs in a common year starting on Thursday,
with the next occurrence in 2015, and previous occurrences in 2009, 1998 and 1987.
This works unless the pattern is broken by a skipped leap year, but no leap year has
been skipped since 1900 and no others will be skipped until 2100.
Events in February Black History Month
LGBT History Month National Bird-Feeding Month
Super Bowl: First Sunday of February World Marriage Day: Second Sunday of February
Presidents Day: Third Monday of February St Brigid’s Day / Imbolc: February 1
Groundhog Day: February 2 Candlemas: February 2
Independence of Sri Lanka: February 4 1917 Constitution of Mexico: February 5
Waitangi Day: February 6 Slovenian Cultural Holiday: February 8
National Foundation Day in Japan: February 11
Abraham Lincoln's birthday: February 12 Valentine's Day: February 14
Serbia's National Day : February 15 Flag Day of Canada: February 15
International Mother Language Day: February 21
Independence Day in Saint Lucia: February 22
George Washington's birthday: February 22 Flag Day of Mexico: February 24
Independence Day in Estonia: February 24 People Power Revolution: February 25
Liberation Day: February 26 Dominican Republic Independence: February
27 Leap Day: February 29
National Day of the Sun National Wear Red Day
Family Day February symbols
Its birth flower is the violet and the common primrose.
Its birthstone is the amethyst.
It symbolizes piety, humility, spiritual wisdom, and sincerity.
Its Zodiac signs are Aquarius and Pisces.
See also February 29
February 30 February 31
List of historical anniversaries References
Further reading Anthony Aveni, "February's Holidays: Prediction,
Purification, and Passionate Pursuit," The Book of the Year: A Brief History of Our Seasonal
Holidays, 29–46.
External links The Straight Dope: How come February has only
28 days?
"February".
Encyclopædia Britannica. 1911.