why does a year last 12 months?

Answer 1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/sidereal_year

no on has actually answered this question. the answer is the number of months per year something of an arbitrary choice. the romans seem to have adopted the hellenic calendar, which was divided into ten months, but later added january and february to the end in about 713 BC so the year was then twelve months long. january became the first month in 153 BC. this calendar also sometimes had an additional intercalary month because this calendar was only 355 days long. julius caesar instated the julian calendar in 46 BC. the months quintilis and sextilis became july and august, which are named after julius and augustus caesar, and the number of days in the calendar year increased to 365 with an additional intercalary day every four years so the intercalary month was removed. the calendar we use today is the gregorian calendar, and it is a modification of the julian calendar. aloysius lilius devised it, and pope gregory the thirteenth later instated it in 1582.
the british empire, including the american colonies, adopted it in 1752 (14 september 1752 followed 2 september 1752 in the british empire).
the union of soviet socialist republics adopted it in 1918 (14 february 1918 followed 31 january 1918 in the ussr).
greece adopted it in 1923 (1 march 1923 followed 15 february 1923 in greece).

[i actually have devised a calendar that i like. there are no non-natural units. it has two independent time units: the day and the year. each unit is based on different motions of the earth so they are independent. each of these units is additionally divided into four sub-units. the year is divided into the four seasons, and the day is also divided in to four parts]

Answer 2

People like numbers to work out evenly, even when there is no reason why they should, especially in nature. Anyway, the early Romans knew that a year was 365 days and change, but couldn't find a round number to divide into 365 to come up with a nice round number of months. The closest they could come up with (and they were right about that) was to use 360 days and divide that by 12 to get 30 days in every month, plus 5 left over days. They liked the beauty of 360, 12 and 30, and who doesn't?
So they just tacked on the 5 extra days at the end of the last month, before starting the new year. This period was called the Saturnalia and was associated with much revelry, partying, drinking, and general debauchery, sort of like Mardi Gras. Needless to say it was a very popular time of year. An interesting historical outcome of this was that when Rome adopted Christianity, and wanted to do away with this classic pagan event, it was smart enough to do it in such as way as to not ruffle the feathers of the general population. So after trying to introduce the celebration of birth of Christ in the spring, when everyone new it occurred, they just decided to combine that celebration with the time of the Saturnalia, at the middle to end of December. They figured Christianity would be more accepted that way, and they were right. So I guess I answered more than you were asking, but 'tis the season, and now you know.

Answer 3

The month is a unit of time, used with calendars, which is approximately as long as some natural period related to the motion of the Moon. The traditional concept arose with the cycle of moon phases; such months (lunations) are synodic months and last ~29.53 days. From excavated tally sticks, researchers have deduced that people counted days in relation to the Moon's phases as early as the Paleolithic age. Synodic months are still the basis of many calendars.

A year is the time between two recurrences of an event related to the orbit of the Earth around the Sun

The Gregorian calendar aims to keep the vernal equinox on or close to March 21; hence it follows the vernal equinox year. The average length of its year is 365.2425 days.

365.2425 / 29.53 = approximately 12 months / year

Answer 4

As you know it takes the Earth on year or 365.25 days to make one rotation around the sun. The .25 expalins leap year. Every year there are 12 full moons, hence 12 months.

Answer 5

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Answer 6

Because the Earth has a revolution period of 12 months.

Answer 7

Because we follow the Julian calander instead of the Gregorian. Plus, 12 lunar cycles in a year.

Answer 8

Try checking the link below for the invention and history of our current calendar -- the Gregorian (NOT Julian!!)

"Although the Julian calendar remained in use into the 20th century in some countries and is still used by many national Orthodox churches, it has generally been replaced by the modern Gregorian calendar. "

Answer 9

Because of the time it takes to revolve around the Sun

Answer 10

Thirty days hath September April June and my father