I was born on the last day of February. I’ve always felt sorry for February, squeezed between the big months of January (named for the Roman god Janus, keeper of gateways) and March (after Mars, the god of war).
The first Roman calendar, legend has it, had 10 months and no February. Beginning at the vernal equinox (春分) with March, it ended with December. In an agricultural society, winter was of little importance, and thus went undivided.
January and February were added about 700 B.C. by the second king of Rome, Numa Pompilius. He made all the months 29 or 31 days, but shortened February, the last month of the year, by giving it only 28.
By the time of Julius Caesar, the calendar was three months out of sync with the solar year. This prompted Caesar to announce a new calendar in 46 B.C. Although there is some dispute—some historians say Caesar gave February 29 days--most believe his calendar preserved a 28-day February (with 29 days only in a leap year).
Next, it was the church’s turn. In 1582 Pope Gregory Ⅻ decreed a new calendar in Europe. Many changes were made, but the Pope passed up yet another chance to grant February equality with the other months.
It’s messy, even erous, changing how we measure time, but Pope Gregory was hardly the last one to try. The League of Nations received over 150 new calendar designs, and the United Nations has considered more proposals since. Just to name a few, there’s the 30×11 Calendar (which supersizes December to 35 or 36 days) and the Kluznickian Calendar (which adds the month of Aten, after an Egyptian sun god). Each proposal involves something that supposedly modernizes the calendar.
But I have a r proposal that won’t lead to chaos, and will correct the historical injustices against February: move the last day of January and the last day of March into February to make it a normal month with 30 days, and a respectable 31 on leap years. This would not add or subtract a single day from the calendar year.
As an added benefit, the first three months of the year each 30 days would bring them into closer alignment with the lunar cycle. It’s a great idea. And unlike Julius and Augustus, I won’t even demand a month named in my honor. It is said that in the first Roman calendar,______.