How many days are there in February?
We know, or perhaps you know now, that February has only 28 days , unlike the others that alternate between 30 and 31. With the exception of July and August, which are repeated! Do you know the knuckle trick to know how many you have each month?Every four years, it is said that we have a leap year and, in that, February becomes 29 days instead of 28 . Imagine that that day is your birthday! You would have to wait another four to celebrate it again on the corresponding day!
And what exactly are these leap years? Well , it is related to the seasons and the rotation of the Earth around the Sun. Our planet takes exactly 365.24 days to make a complete revolution. But since we cannot divide one day into four and live only that small part of each year, what is done is that it is saved until it reaches a whole day.
Wait, we'll explain it to you another way. That 0.24 is roughly a quarter of a day. Imagine that you have a circle, and that it represents a day, and you divide it with a cross into four parts; each would be 25% or 0.25, right? Each part is a year, so when those four have passed and you have added all your 25%, you have an extra day. And what is done is to add it to February, which is the shortest.
Why February is the shortest month of the year
You already know part of the story, now we just have to know the reason why February is the shortest month! Back in the 8th century BC , a calendar that only had 10 months was used. Since winter did not contribute anything to the crops, they did not even give these months a name. Can you imagine spending days and days without knowing what time of year it is? Well these days they made a total of 304.
A few years later, a king, Numa Pompilius, thought it didn't make sense, so he added January and February to the end of the calendar , thus covering the 12 lunar cycles that take place in a year. All the elements of nature are related to each other!
But since they were very superstitious at this time, they wanted the months to end in odd numbers. Most months had 29 and 31 days, except February, which, because it was the last, remained at 28. After many changes, they were left with a year of only 355 days.
But this gave rise to a multitude of problems. Finally, it was Julius Caesar who reformed the calendar and adjusted it to the sun, and kept the current 365 days , with months of 30 and 31 days. Perhaps because of the position that February occupied in the order, it was left as it was. And today an extra day is simply added to adjust to the complete cycle of the Earth.
What a mess! Who would have thought it would take so long to get a calendar right! We hope you liked this lesson today and that you remember it when February returns. See you soon!
