Thirty days hath September,
April, June and November
All the rest have 31
Seven of them
Except February,
And that's all messed up.
This year has 366 days, in society's effort to maintain 12 months in a calendar year.
But it still doesn't work.
If you divide 12 into 365, you get 30, with five left over. And that means those five are spread among the other months. So four months get 30 days, and seven others get 31, but that accounts for only 11 months. Which means February (named after the ancient goddess Febra) is cheated out of two months.
Unless the Gremlin jumps in and adds an extra month to make up for the lost time. But he can only do that every four years, lest the other months lose some of their time.
But why insist on the magic of 12?
Perhaps because if society divided the monthly lunar cycle of 28 days into 365, the result would be 13 months, with only one day left over, which would give the rest of earthly society a day off, to celebrate the start of a new year.
However, everyone knows that 13 is unlucky, so those in charge of making up the calendar insisted on a 12 month year, even though it meant we have to hop our way through the complications of four months with 30 days, seven with 31 days, an extra month with 28 days and giving that short period an extra day every four years to balance things out so the powers that be (were?) would not have to deal with the perceived threat of the power of 13.
But is that really a threat?
Ask builders, who won't put that number onto one of their floors. Nor will they put that number onto the street address of their buildings. Instead, the street numbers go from 11 to 15.
April, June and November
All the rest have 31
Seven of them
Except February,
And that's all messed up.
This year has 366 days, in society's effort to maintain 12 months in a calendar year.
But it still doesn't work.
If you divide 12 into 365, you get 30, with five left over. And that means those five are spread among the other months. So four months get 30 days, and seven others get 31, but that accounts for only 11 months. Which means February (named after the ancient goddess Febra) is cheated out of two months.
Unless the Gremlin jumps in and adds an extra month to make up for the lost time. But he can only do that every four years, lest the other months lose some of their time.
But why insist on the magic of 12?
Perhaps because if society divided the monthly lunar cycle of 28 days into 365, the result would be 13 months, with only one day left over, which would give the rest of earthly society a day off, to celebrate the start of a new year.
However, everyone knows that 13 is unlucky, so those in charge of making up the calendar insisted on a 12 month year, even though it meant we have to hop our way through the complications of four months with 30 days, seven with 31 days, an extra month with 28 days and giving that short period an extra day every four years to balance things out so the powers that be (were?) would not have to deal with the perceived threat of the power of 13.
But is that really a threat?
Ask builders, who won't put that number onto one of their floors. Nor will they put that number onto the street address of their buildings. Instead, the street numbers go from 11 to 15.
Nor will large cities have a 13th street.
And don't forget what happened to Apollo 13.
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