The Calendar
In todays day and age, it is fairly common for people to say that "Time is Money". Many people plan there days using all kinds of technological tools. One of the key tools for decision making includes a persons diary or calendar. In the world today, many calendars exist for example, Islamic and Chinese Calendars.
In todays day and age, it is fairly common for people to say that "Time is Money". Many people plan there days using all kinds of technological tools. One of the key tools for decision making includes a persons diary or calendar. In the world today, many calendars exist for example, Islamic and Chinese Calendars.
The current calendar that most of us in the western world currently use is known as the Gregorian calendar which is a solar based(how long does the earth take to revolve around the sun) and was named after Pope Gregory in 1582. It is also worthy to draw attention at this stage to the fact that the Islamic calendar is a Lunar based (based on moon cycles ie birth of moon to birth of the next moon)calendar.
January
January is named after Janus. Janus was the God of New Beginnings and Transitions.
February
February is derived from the latin term "Februum" which means purification. The Romans had a purification ritual on 15 February each year.
March
March is easy, and is named after the Planet Mars.
April
The naming of April is uncertain, but taking into account the Roman beliefs, it either could mean a God, a Planet or any other related ritual.
May
May was named after the Greek Goddess Maia, who was considered, the God of fertility.
June
June was named after the Roman Goddess of Juno, who was considered, the God of Marriage.
July
July was named after Julius Ceasar himself.
August
August was named after Augustus, the founder of the Roman Empire.
September, October, November and December
These months name originates from the latin terms Septum, meaning 7, Octo meaning 8, Novum meaning 9 and Decem meaning 10, even though these are the 9, 10, 11 and 12th months respectively. There is however some history behind this, you are welcome to search this for yourselves.
As indicated above, the Gregorian calendar was only enacted in 1582. The next question I raised was, what existed before this date. The answer is... The "Julian Calendar" . This calendar was enacted by Julius Ceasar in 45 BC lasting up to 1582. There is not much difference between the Gregorian and Julian Calendars. They both have 12 Months. The main difference was simply one of accuracy. Julius Ceaser and his team calculated the time the earth rotates the sun to be 365.25 days, while Pope Gregories team calculated it to be 365.2425 days.
January
January is named after Janus. Janus was the God of New Beginnings and Transitions.
February
February is derived from the latin term "Februum" which means purification. The Romans had a purification ritual on 15 February each year.
March
March is easy, and is named after the Planet Mars.
April
The naming of April is uncertain, but taking into account the Roman beliefs, it either could mean a God, a Planet or any other related ritual.
May
May was named after the Greek Goddess Maia, who was considered, the God of fertility.
June
June was named after the Roman Goddess of Juno, who was considered, the God of Marriage.
July
July was named after Julius Ceasar himself.
August
August was named after Augustus, the founder of the Roman Empire.
September, October, November and December
These months name originates from the latin terms Septum, meaning 7, Octo meaning 8, Novum meaning 9 and Decem meaning 10, even though these are the 9, 10, 11 and 12th months respectively. There is however some history behind this, you are welcome to search this for yourselves.
As indicated above, the Gregorian calendar was only enacted in 1582. The next question I raised was, what existed before this date. The answer is... The "Julian Calendar" . This calendar was enacted by Julius Ceasar in 45 BC lasting up to 1582. There is not much difference between the Gregorian and Julian Calendars. They both have 12 Months. The main difference was simply one of accuracy. Julius Ceaser and his team calculated the time the earth rotates the sun to be 365.25 days, while Pope Gregories team calculated it to be 365.2425 days.