october

[ketchupkid]

helloo wasnt sure which section to put this is but here goes. why is october the 10th month when oct... is usually something that has eight of something or is to do with the number 8 eg octopus. did someone invent some new months and add them in so october got pushed back or something? just wondered thanks

[LazyGun]

This is what wikipedia has to say on the subject;
October is the tenth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days.

October begins in western tropical astrology with the sun in the sign of Libra and ends in the sign of Scorpio. Astronomically speaking, the sun actually begins in the constellation of Virgo and ends in the constellation of Libra.

In Latin, octo means "eight". October was also the eighth month in the Roman calendar until a monthless winter period (summer in the southern hemisphere) was divided between January and February.

[kempie]

Octo - 8
Novem - 9
Decem - 10

The old Roman calendar began the year in March (spring).

Compare this to the dates for the first sign of the Zodiac, Aries (March 21 - April 19)

[kempie]

The Romans were using a 12 month calendar for more than 650 years before Gaius Julius Caesar was elected senior Consul of the Roman Republic in 49BC. Soon after he overhauled the calendar system, a result of which included the fifth month Quintilis being renamed Iulius in his honour.

His successor Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, Emperor of Rome and known as Augustus, similarly appropriated the sixth month Sextilis.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_calendar

[spudqueen]

Until about 500 years ago the new year started in March. This is why October is oct - for eight, etc. You can sometimes see dates written as eg March 3rd 1598/99. To confuse matters even more the new year didn't start on March 1st. When we changed calenders and lost (was it 12 days?) the tax year still had 365 days in it, which is why our tax year now ends on April 5th.

[Grunty]

Not quite 500 years, Spudqueen, but 1752. Other countries made the change at different times; for example Russia didn't make the change until 1917. In England, there were riots and calls to 'give us back our 11 days'. People actually thought that their lives had been shortened by that much.

[Octavius]

As so many have said before, October originally WAS the 8th month. Month 1 in the old Roman calendar was originally March. Through the course of history and many changes we are left with what we have now.

Immediately after the Julian reform, the twelve months of the Roman calendar were named Ianuarius, Februarius, Martius, Aprilis, Maius, Iunius, Quintilis, Sextilis, September, October, November, and December, just as they were before the reform.

The first month of the year continued to be Ianuarius, as it had been since 153 BC. The Romans later renamed months after Julius Caesar and Augustus, renaming Quintilis (originally, "the Fifth month", with March as month 1) as Iulius (July) in 44 BC and Sextilis ("Sixth month") as Augustus (August) in 8 BC. Quintilis was renamed to honour Caesar because it was the month of his birth.

Other months were renamed by other emperors, but none of the later changes survived their deaths. Caligula renamed September ("Seventh month") as Germanicus; Nero renamed Aprilis (April) as Neroneus, Maius (May) as Claudius and Iunius (June) as Germanicus; and Domitian renamed September as Germanicus and October ("Eighth month") as Domitianus. At other times, September was also renamed as Antoninus and Tacitus, and November ("Ninth month") was renamed Faustina and Romanus.

Commodus was unique in renaming all twelve months after his own adopted names (January to December): Amazonius, Invictus, Felix, Pius, Lucius, Aelius, Aurelius, Commodus, Augustus, Herculeus, Romanus, and Exsuperatorius.

So apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh-water system and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us eh?

[RLM89]

it's because august and july were both introduced by the romans after there great leaders (Augustus and Julius Caesar) surely everyone knows that? or maybe they just don't teach enough in school these days!