Did you know? (because we didn't...)
- Calender came from the Roman term, Kalends, which means the first day of the month.
- The Roman Senate named July after Julius Caesar to honor him for reforming the calender.
- The Roman Empire also decided that a month should be named after Augustus Caesar because he defeated Marc Antony and Cleopatra.
- January - Named for the Roman god of beginnings and endings - Janus.
- February - Name comes from the god Februus. Romans celebrated this month with purification festivals called "februa"
- March - Named for the Roman god of war - Mars, son of Jupiter. This was the first month of the Roman calendar.
- April - The name comes from the word "aperire" which means "to open" - this is the month when the trees and flower buds open.
- May - Named after the Roman goddess of honor and reverence - Maiesta (Maia).
- June - Named for the Roman Queen of the gods - Juno, who was married to Jupiter.
- July - Named after Julius Caesar, who was born in this month.
- August - Named for Augustus, the Roman emperor. Originally it was called Sextilis for the 6th month of the Roman calendar.
- September - Comes from the word septum - meaning seven.
- October - Comes from the word octo - meaning eight.
- November - Comes from the word novem - meaning nine.
- December - Comes from the word decem - meaning ten.
- Sunday - Sun for the latin "Solis" - in old English "Sunnandaeg"
This is known as the Sun's day. - Monday - the Moon for the latin "Lunae" - old English "Monandaeg"
This is known as the Moon's day. - Tuesday - Mars for the latin "Martis" - old English "Tiwesdaeg"
This was named for Mars - god of wars. Western culture used the warrior god Tiw. - Wednesday - Mercury for the latin "Mercurii" - old English "Wodnesdaeg"
This was named for Mercury - god of peace. Western culture used the god Wotan. - Thursday - Jupiter for the latin "Jovis" - old English "Thunresdaeg"
This was named for Jupiter - god of thunder. Western culture used the god Thor. - Friday - Venus for the latin "Veneris" - old English "Frigedaeg"
This was named for Venus - goddess of love. Western culture used the goddess Frigg. - Saturday - Saturn for the latin "Saturni" - old English "Saeternesdaeg"
This was named for Saturn - god of planting and harvest. Saturn's day. - Hours of the Day : The word hour comes from the Greek word "hora" - which was used to mark a time or season. The custom of marking day by a 24 hour system was invented by the Babylonians. The method of marking an hour by 60 minutes came from the Sumerians. Today we still use their way of marking time by 60 seconds in a minute and 60 minutes in an hour.
- The length of a year is determined by how long it takes for the earth to complete it's orbit around the sun (365 1/4 days).
The moon orbits around the earth about every 29 days - that's a lunar month. If you divide 365 1/4 days by 29 days, you get about 12 1/2 lunar months in a year. So to have an even number of months in the year, days were added to some of the 12 months to get us to the 365 days (366 in leap years) so that we would have an even 12 months (calendar months) in a year. - When the hour was divided into 60 minutes, consisting of 60 seconds, the number 60 was probably chosen for its mathematical convenience. It is divisible by a large number of smaller numbers without a remainder.