GK: Why only 28 days in February?

Why only 28 days in February? This question comes to mind since childhood. We remember the names of 12 months, but ever wondered why there are not 28 days in December, August or January?

The answer lies in ancient Roman history and superstition. Today we use the Gregorian calendar, which came from the reforms of Julius Caesar and Pope Gregory XIII, but the length of February was established during the time of the Roman king Numa Pompilius (715–673 BC).

History is very old
The old Roman calendar had only 10 months – from March to December, a total of 304 days. Winter was considered without months. Numa added January and February to the calendar to match the lunar year (about 355 days). The lunar year is 354.367 days, so they reduced one day each from the 30-day months to 29. Now the year is 355 days old. In Roman superstition, even numbers were considered unlucky. Numa wanted all months to have an odd number of days, so that the year overall would be odd. But if all the odd days are kept in 12 months, the total number of days becomes even (because 12 is an even number and the sum of odd numbers is even). Therefore at least even days in a month were necessary. Numa chose February because it was the month of death and purification rituals (Februalia).

Superstition or logic?
Roman considered it ‘unlucky’ and kept it for 28 days. February was called Februarius, which comes from februa (purification). This month was meant to worship and purify the dead, so the unlucky number seemed appropriate. Julius Caesar reformed the calendar in 46 BC. He created the Julian calendar based on the solar year (365.25 days). Every 4 years, in leap years, February is made 29 days, so that the difference of 6 hours is compensated. But February was kept only on 28th, so that religious rituals are not affected. Later Augustus gave his month August 31 days, subtracting one day from February. It remained the same in the Gregorian calendar (1582) – February had 28 or 29 days.

There is a scientific reason too
The reason for leap year is scientific. The Earth takes 365 days, 5 hours, 48 ​​minutes and 46 seconds to revolve around the Sun. Julian added 1 day every 4 years, but this was a bit much. Gregorian does not have leap century years (e.g. 1900), except those divisible by 400 (e.g. 2000). But February remained short. In many places, keeping February short resulted in calendar balance. Had February been made 30, the year would have been longer or other months would have had to be cut. February was the last month in the Roman calendar, so the rest of the days fit into it. Even today February is the shortest month, but it is a symbol of Roman history. Superstition made it ‘unlucky’, but it becomes special in leap years.