February

February is the second of the  in the  and s. It is the shortest month and the only month with fewer than 30 days. The month has 29 days in, when the year number is divisible by four (except for years that are divisible by 100 and not by 400 in the Gregorian calendar). In common years the month has 28 days. Leap year birthdays are usually celebrated on the 28th in a non-leap year. Some believe that February originally had 29 days (30 in a leap year), but that idea was invented by during the. See.

February was named after the Latin term februum, which means purification, via the purification ritual Februa held on February 15 in the old. and February were the last two months to be added to the Roman calendar, since the Romans originally considered a monthless period. They were added by about 700 BCE. February remained the last month of the calendar year until the time of the (c. 450 BCE), when it became the second month. At certain intervals Roman priests truncated February to 23 or 24 days and inserted a 27-day intercalary month,, after February to realign the year with the s. See. Thereafter, it remained the second month of the calendar year, meaning the order that months are displayed (January, February, March, …, December) within a year-at-a-glance calendar. Even during the Middle Ages, when the numbered year began on  or, February continued to be the second month whenever all twelve months were displayed in order.

February begins, astronomically speaking, with the sun in the constellation of and ends with the sun in the constellation of. Astrologically speaking, February begins with the sun in the sign of and ends in the sign of.



Historical names for February include the terms Solmoneth (mud month) and Kale-monath (named for cabbage) as well as 's designation Hornung. In, the month is called helmikuu, meaning "month of the pearl"; when snow melts on tree branches, it forms droplets, and as these freeze again, they are like pearls of ice.

Many people pronounce "February" with a round 'u' instead of an open 'u' vowel, which forces the first 'r' to be eclipsed, viz. 'FEB-yoo-air-ee' instead of 'FEB-roo-air-ee'. That is, it elides into first half of the trailing diphthong. Otherwise, the flanking mid vowel ('e') and back vowel ('u'), combined with the final -ry syllable (front vowel 'ee') make the 'br' difficult for Anglophones to pronounce in the first place. The problem does not usually arise for, however. The Scottish names for the month are "Feberwary" and "Februar," the latter usually pronounced with a long "ay" vowel in the first syllable.

regularly noted, in a facetious manner, the alternate pronunciation on his first February broadcast of the  Evening , year after year.

Full month

 * American Heart Month
 * ( and )
 * Lovers Month
 * National Lactose Intolerance Awareness Month (Canada)
 * National Week (first week, )
 * National Children's Dental Health Month

Non-specific days

 * celebration
 * (Celebrated before )
 * All-Star game
 * The
 * The Great Backyard Bird Count
 * (Sometime between to  in non-leap years or  to  in leap years)
 * (Sometime between and )
 * The
 * The Great Backyard Bird Count
 * (Sometime between to  in non-leap years or  to  in leap years)
 * (Sometime between and )

Specific days

 * National Day,
 * Day
 * Birthday
 * 's birthday,
 * King Harald's birthday
 * National Engineers Week (week of Presidents day)
 * Thinking Day (Girl Guides)
 * B.P. Day (Scouts )
 * Founder's Day (Scout Association (UK))
 * Independence Day
 * Massacre Day, (Taiwan) (February 28)
 * (3rd Monday), or
 * National Engineers Week (week of Presidents day)
 * Thinking Day (Girl Guides)
 * B.P. Day (Scouts )
 * Founder's Day (Scout Association (UK))
 * Independence Day
 * Massacre Day, (Taiwan) (February 28)
 * (3rd Monday), or
 * (3rd Monday), or

Trivia

 * February begins on the same day of the week as March and November in a, and on the same day of the week as August in a.
 * Sweden had a in 1712.
 * February in the is the seasonal equivalent to  in the  and vice versa.
 * February's is.
 * February's birth flower is the or.
 * The Chinese floral emblem of February is the peach blossom.
 * February is the most commonly misspelled month (as Febuary, a phonetic spelling error).