February, a typically cold month of the year in our area. A month where we sit inside, sipping soup and cocoa. While it is not uncommon to see snowmen/women/children/animals on our lawns during this month, you may be interested to know that the month of February almost did not exist!
Our Calendar is based on a model set up by the ancient Romans. Originally, March was the first month of the year.
In this 10 month calendar model, some months had 20 days while others could have as many as 35!
Eventually the months of January and February were added to the calendar which divided a solar year (which consists of 365.242 days) into 12 months, thus making the amount of days in each a bit more consistent with each other. February, however remained quite short. At one point it was always 29 days, however one of those days were taken and added on to the length of August.
However, because as stated above, a year technically runs 365.242 days, an extra day, leap day is added to the calendar every 4 years to make up for that extra .242 of a day. Leap day was given to February making the shortest month of the year, also the only month to contain an extra day every four years.
While February remains the shortest month of the year, it has many holidays.
Some of which include:
Ground hog's Day: February 2nd.
Chinese New Year: February 3rd.
Valentine's Day: February 14th.
Two of our Country's most revered Presidents where born in February. Abraham Lincoln was born February 12th and George Washington on February 22nd. Because of this we celebrate President's day on the third Monday of February.
February's official flower is the violet (though in some places it is the primrose).
If you were born in February, your birthstone is an amethyst.
Not bad at all for a month that almost never existed.
-Posted by Miss Jessikah
Come join us for an introduction to Chinese Calligraphy! This Thursday, February 24, an instructor from the Long Island Children's Museum will be running a workshop from 2-3 PM and 3:15 - 4:15 PM for children Grades 1-5 ($3 fee). Explore the development of writing in Eastern culture and discover the art of beautiful Chinese writing. Learn the six basic strokes used to form Chinese characters and use a graph to place the letters. Create your own scroll using elegant brushes, Sumi ink, rice paper and authentic seals. There's still room in both sessions, so if you are looking for something fun to do this Presidents' Week, stop by the Children's Room to register.
