Why is February the shortest month? Legends and beliefs about February

Oh, how good it is that he is already here. Last day of winter. Just a little more, and it will be possible to send warm jackets to the closet, and a sweater to be torn apart by moths. By the way, who and why so unfairly deprived February and (to the joy of everyone) shortened it to 28 days? Here the real reason why the last one winter month so short.

What calendar does most of the world's population live by? That's right, Gregorian. Although, of course, options are possible, but all our equipment and common sense are tied to it. But the Gregorian calendar is based on the Julian calendar, and the Julian calendar is based on the ancient Roman calendar. What are we talking about? And besides, for all the strange things about February, we need to say “thank you” to the Romans.

Once upon a time in ancient Rome, the year lasted only 10 months: it began in March and ended in December. For peasant farmers and the warm Mediterranean climate, this was quite enough. Until Emperor Num Pompilius decided that it would be necessary to synchronize the calendar with 12 lunar cycles. This is how two new (and not very popular) months appeared in the Roman calendar: January and February. Each had 28 days, but it was soon decided to add another one to January. After all, an even number of days in a year, according to the superstitious Roman intelligentsia, would lead to misfortune.

Everything worked well, but after a couple of years the cycle completely went wrong. The introduction of another “extra” month, the onset of which was determined by the priests, did not improve the situation in any way. At that time he headed the Empire Julius Caesar and quickly put things in order: he introduced a four-year system, where 3 years lasted 365 days each, and one (leap year) lasted 366. At the same time, “odd” months had strictly 31 days, and even ones - 30. February, as the most insignificant, got 29 days and 30 on leap days. And at the same time the emperor and beloved summer month called it by his name.

And this is how we would cope with the long cold February, if not for the terrible Octavian Augustus. As we remember, the Romans had difficult relationships With even numbers. So August didn’t like the fact that “his” month had 30 unlucky days. Therefore, he urgently demanded that August +1 be added. And this was only possible due to the same “insignificant” (no sowing and poor harvest) February. This is why the 31-day July is followed by the same August, and February has only 28 days. But who's complaining?

By the way, the heat-loving Romans weren’t particularly fond of February either. In this month it was impossible to get married or start wars, but one should only pray and appease the gods underworld. And someone is now saying how “gloomy” February is.
And here's another

On far north In an ice house lived Mother Winter with her sons. The eldest son is December, the middle one is January and the youngest is February. Mother Winter taught her children wisdom and her winter craft. The eldest son, December, was the first to comprehend all the wisdom of the frosty business. How to chain rivers, how to weave a snow carpet, how to control the northern winds - you need to know everything, be able to do everything. January was the second to start studying. His Mother taught him to keep the harsh frosts at bay, to draw painted patterns on the windows, to dress the trees in fur coats, to crackle and tap in the forest at night. It’s February’s turn to get down to science. Winter began to show the youngest of the sons what and how to do. But February was restless and windy, he quickly became bored with teaching, and then he said to Mother:
- Yes, I know how to withstand severe frosts and how to cause a strong blizzard, I heard this from my brothers! - and ran off to play with the blizzards and snowstorms.
Mother sighed and shook her head:
- Well, let's look at your work.
Each of the brothers went to Earth for thirty days each to show what they had learned.
December was the first to leave home. Mother Winter looks at his work - her soul rejoices. December pleases your eyes with snow, but hurts your ears with frost. He can do everything, he can do everything - he can pave the road, nail it, and give the sleigh a go. The eldest son's forge is small, but he forges fetters for all the rivers. Thirty days passed, December gave way to his brother - January. And now Mother is happy - January wears a sheepskin coat to her toes, paints intricate patterns on the windows, cracks at night - turns the ice on the river blue. If snow blows into the fields, bread will arrive. January did its job, after thirty days it gave way younger brother February. February came to earth with severe frosts and harsh winds. The frost lasted for several days and suddenly there was a thaw!
February is trying to freeze everyone and everything again, but she can’t - she has no strength, she doesn’t remember the frost spells! Only old friends - blizzards and blizzards - came, swirled, covered the roads, saved me from shame. This is how February worked - not with skill, but with cunning.
Either it will pull you in January, or it will glance at you in March, then it will caress you with warmth, or it will hit you with frost. And I only had enough strength to cope with severe frosts at night. By the end of the month, February was completely exhausted, tired, and had no strength to fight the heat.
Winter - Mother - came to his aid:
- Give your older brothers a day!

That's what February did. Since then, December and January have ruled the earth for 31 days each, and February has only 28. And once every four years, Mother Winter gives youngest son one more day to see if he has gained strength, if he has understood the frosty science. But no - the fickle February winds with snowstorms and blizzards in a round dance, on one side there is a thaw, on the other - frost and blizzard.

28.02.2008
Vasily Pankov, 11 years old,
painted by Nastya Bakhareva, 8 years old, Julia Pinchugina, 8 years old,
Ustinova Sonya 8 years old, Chebardakov Lenya 8 years old,
Fairy tale of the competition "Reader!"

Why are there 28 days in February, if you don’t remember the small increase in leap year? How did it happen that one month of the year was so deprived? Who decided on the current distribution of days in months? - For each of these questions, several answers have been prepared. You can choose any of them only according to your inner desire.

Legends and beliefs about February:

1. Gambling loss. The Dutch tell their children that at the beginning of the world, every month was equal to the other. They happily communicated with each other, spending time in games and fun. Among other things, they organized card battles. One day, too gambling February lost all his goods to January and March. I had to give up a few of my days as payment. January was too smart, so his shortened brother gave up trying to outplay him.

After some time, February had a very strong quarrel with March, dropping into his house without asking with his cold winds. Since then, he has not been able to win back his days, because Mart refuses to do any further business with him. Because of this, the “short one” sends his blizzard without asking in order to return at least part of the lost property...

This is how it happened: January teaches wisdom, February teaches impulsiveness, and March teaches the ability to withstand changes in the weather and in life.

2. The approach of spring. According to another version, ancient people believed that with the beginning of March, winter would be forced to retreat. At first, 1 day was “plucked off” from February. When spring began to gape a little, the next year they decided to shorten the month by another 1 day. Ultimately, we decided to keep the “short” one with a duration of 28 days. For “exemplary” behavior, 1 day is added to it every 4 years.

This is the reason why the confrontation between spring and winter is often visible in March. One quite logically counts on its right to take up duties, while the other takes revenge for such an impudent treatment of February.

3. “To each according to his works.” The year was created for the order that all months had to maintain. I had my own the reason for the change of day and night, weeks after weeks and months. The Creator once asked each of the months what useful things they could do together with people. January hastened to indicate not only rest, but also attentive care for livestock ready to give birth. March insisted that it was important to sow seeds for the future harvest. At this time, February frivolously expressed his desire to rest on the stove.

The Creator got angry and took away several days for January and March. The lazy man was strictly ordered to have time to redo all the assigned work in a shorter period of time. Since then, February has been scolding the most, constantly changing the weather, sending frosty winds into every crevice of people. So he's angry about the absence have a nice rest and the need to help January and March in their affairs.

Calendar reforms throughout history

Legends exist to convey a certain idea to a person. In the case of the duration of February, they can all be reduced to the idea of ​​​​rewarding everyone according to their deeds. Gamblers risk being left without anything, and lazy people risk being forced into hard labor. And even a seemingly harmless desire to hasten the arrival of spring can have its unpleasant consequences...

How did the blatant inequality appear in the days of February? History indicates several important points, which led to the current result:

1) B Ancient Rome a calendar was developed in which the year was divided... into 10 months! It began with March, as the main month of the awakening of all living things after hibernation. A simple calendar existed quite successfully, although scientists of that time noticed incorrect display of the changing months and weather.

2) During the reign of Numa Pompilius, the issue of chronology became especially acute. It became noticeable that March had ceased to fulfill its role as the source of the birth of new life. It was at this moment that, as a result of the reform, the calendar was aligned with changes in the solar-lunar cycle. The study of celestial bodies became the starting point for the appearance of 2 new months in the previously familiar calendar - January and February. February completed the annual cycle, so it got the rest of the days (at that time there were 29).

3) The reign of Gaius Julius Caesar was marked by further improvements in the calendar. It was he who introduced the calculation by a four-year cycle, in which 3 years had a duration of 365 days, and the last one - 366 days. In honor of Julius Caesar, one of the months began to be called “July”.

4) Emperor Octavian Augustus decided that he could not lag behind his predecessor, so he thoroughly studied the calendar and added one of the months and named it Augustus. At that time, this month had exactly three dozen days. The superstitious Romans were wary of an even number of days in months, so the emperor resorted to a trick: he subtracted 1 day from February and added it to Augustus.

This is interesting:

The name "February" means "purifying month" (from Latin).

If the rivers have added a lot of water this month, then the year will be marked by good haymaking.

Large icicles in last days winters foreshadow a long spring.

The ancient Romans observed rituals of communication with formidable gods underground kingdom throughout the month of February.

After the death of Caesar, the priests sincerely believed that new system There must be a leap year every three years. August is famous

February 28th is celebrated Orthodox name days Alexei, Arseny, Athanasius, Euphrosyne, Ivan, Mikhail, Nikolai, Onesimus, Peter, Simeon, Sofia.

In February 1066, Westminster Abbey was opened.

One February day in 1940, Vladimir Pavlovich Fedorov, a Soviet test pilot, for the first time demonstrated to the world the capabilities of flying a rocket glider with a liquid-propellant engine.