January is the first, February is the second, and so on in order until the twelfth month of the year. The inconsistency is due to a number of historical factors.
It all started with the Roman calendar
In the Ancient Roman state, the calendar year totaled 10 months. They walked in the following order: Martius, Aprilis, Maius, Junius, Quintilis, Sextilis, September, October, November, December. With such a reckoning seventh in order, where did its name come from.
Then in the year two months appeared between December and March, called Februarius and Januarius. Later they were swapped. But the lunar calendar did not coincide with the solar year, so there was a time of a calendar year with a length of 13 months. The confusion was still that.
Julian calendar as a basis
January 1, 45 BC Gaius Julius Caesar followed the advice of Sozigen, an astronomer from Alexandria, and established: the chronology will be carried out differently. According to the new calendar, every fourth year was declared a leap year.
The first month of the year, as in the ancient Roman lunar calendar, was March, named for the war god Mars. “Divine” are also January (Janus), June (Juno), February (Febriarus), May (Maya). Julius Caesar also received his month: the quintile became July. By serial number, they received the months from the sixth to the tenth, from August to December. The seventh was just September.
April did not fall into any of the categories. The name was given to the second spring month due to the fact that during this period the opening of the kidneys occurred.Aperire from Latin is translated as “open”.
September ceased to be the seventh, and became the ninth under Octavia Augustine. The Senate renamed the sixth month, Sextile, in honor of the new lord: this is how August appeared. Under Octavia Augustine, the beginning of the year was postponed to January. They did not begin to change the names of the months from 9 to 12 with such a calendar, although they no longer corresponded to the serial number in the year.
Interesting fact: The Julian calendar in September was 31 days. With the changes made by Octavius Augustine, one day was taken from the month, because there were three in a row, 31 each. The number of days also changed in February - from 29 to 28 (the “extra” was given to August) and November (from 31 to 30). Balanced by the addition of October and December - from 30 to 31.
The first, third, ninth, or briefly about the fate of September in Russia
In 1492, in Russia, in accordance with the church calendar, is officially established: the first month of the year is September. At the same time, the names are left, as in the Julian calendar, which has been used since the baptism of Russia.
Yes, and there are their names. September, for example - ruin. It is based on the roar of autumn winds and animals, in particular deer. Another name came from weather conditions. This month, the sky began to frown, and therefore - "frown".
Until that moment, September could be the seventh in order, because there was no unity on the territory of the state. In one locality it began in March, and in another - in September. Disagreement was put to an end in 1492: the church calendar was taken as a basis.
And again, no one began to change the name.This did not affect the new chronology introduced by Peter I in 1699. It was the shortest calendar year, because the new one came just three months later. By his royal decree, Peter decided that from now on, the New Year will be celebrated in Europe, that is, he was postponed from September 1 to January 1. The new tradition of celebrating New Year and Christmas holidays in Russia has taken root.
Thus, from the time of Peter, September remains the ninth month of the year. At the same time, the calendar adopted by Guy Julius Caesar, in which the first month was March, and September was the seventh in priority, is the basis.
