Why does February only have 28 days?

Question

I understand that during a leap year it has 29. But why and when was it given 28 days instead of 30. Then we would have 2 less months with 31 days. On a leap year it would then have 31 days. How did this end up this way?

Answer 1

There are 28 days in February because February was the low month on the totem pole.

Originally, the Roman calendar had 12 months of 29 or 30 days, beginning in March, with an extra (intercalary) month thrown in every other year to get things back in sync with the seasons. Unfortunately this led to abuses, as officials added or dropped intercalary months to extend their time in office or to hasten elections.

So in about 45 BC, Julius Caesar, who by now had made himself dictator of Rome, established a 365-day calendar with leap years. For reasons unknown to me but which seemed good to him at the time, he decided that instead of having five months with 31 days and seven with thirty, he would only allow February to have 30 days in a leap year. He incidentally renamed the fifth month, Quintilis, after himself (Julius, or July).

Julius' adopted son and heir, Octavian, gained control of the state a few years after Julius' assassination in 44 BC. Octavian ruled so well that the Senate granted him the name of Augustus, and after his death he was formally deified by the Senate. As part of this, the month Sextilis following July was named August, just as Augustus had followed Julius as leader of the State. But since the month now named after the God Augustus had only 30 days, another day was taken from poor February and given to August.

Answer 2

The number of days in the year is roughly equivalent to the number of days it takes to travel round the sun. The actual number is closer to 365.25 - and that is why 365 days in a year except for leap years, and even then, extremely occasionally leap years have to be adjusted.

Adding 2 more days to the year would make the calendar less accurate, not more accurate.

If the leap year adjustments weren't made, the seasons would slowly shift around.

But yes... 5 months of 31 days and 7 months of 30 days might make more sense. The months simply weren't put together that way though. Something to do with the changeover from the old calendar to the new.

Answer 3

They had to make a year fit in with our rotation around the sun. So they had to divide those 365 days it takes for the earth to go around the sun by the 12 months and all of them couldn't have 30 (although I don't see why they could make some of the 31-day months to 30 and give Feb a couple more days).

But as it is...if Feb had 30 days, then in 15 years, our calendar would be a month off from the seasons...and spring would start in Feb instead of March.

Answer 4

February was named after the Latin term februum, which means purification, via the purification ritual Februa held on February 15 in the old 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 700 BC. February remained the last month of the calendar year until the time of the decemvirs (c. 450 BC), when it became the second month. At certain intervals Roman priests inserted an intercalary month, Intercalaris, into the middle of February to realign the year with the seasons. See from Roman to Julian. Thereafter, it remained the second month of the calendar year, meaning the order that months are displayed (January, February, March, …, December) 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, February continued to be the second month whenever all twelve months were displayed in order.

February begins, astronomically speaking, with the sun in the constellation of Capricornus and ends with the sun in the constellation of Aquarius. Astrologically speaking, February begins with the sun in the sign of Aquarius and ends in the sign of Pisces.

Answer 5

A widely believed — but possibly erroneous — story has it that February is so short because the Romans borrowed a day from it to add to August. August was originally a 30-day month called Sextilis, but it was renamed to honor the emperor Augustus Caesar, just as July had earlier been renamed to honor Julius Caesar. Naturally, it wouldn't do to have Gus's month be shorter than Julius's, hence the switch. But some historians say this is bunk. They say February has always had 28 days, going back to the 8th century BC, when a Roman king by the name of Numa Pompilius established the basic Roman calendar. Before Numa was on the job the calendar covered only ten months, March through December. December, as you may know, roughly translates from Latin as "tenth." July was originally called Quintilis, "fifth," Sextilis was sixth, September was seventh, and so on.

Answer 6

Because January, March, May, July, August, October, December
have 31

Answer 7

The Straight Dope (a reliable column known for its thorough and impartial research) has an article on this very topic: http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_160.html

Answer 8

cause 29 seemed like to many every year

Answer 9

So that we can all get bent over - by getting paid less, yet having to pay the same amount for rent.

Answer 10

good question. research the gregorian calander and get back to me.

PS Maybe it's racism due to Black History month.