6 Cool And Fun Facts About August

August was once the sixth month of the year. In the original ten-month Roman calendar, the month went by the name of Sextilis, meaning “the sixth month” in Latin. It wasn’t until around 700BC that August was rudely shoved back in the order of months when January and February were added to the beginning of the year by King Numa Pompilius.

Here are some fun facts about August:

1. August has also changed its number of days multiple times. In the ten-month Roman calendar, the months all had either 30 or 31 days, totaling 304 days in the year. Not only did Pompilius add January and February to the calendar, but he also reduced the number of days in August down to 29. It wasn’t until Julius Caesar introduced the Julian calendar that it was left with 31 days, and it’s stayed the same ever since!

2. The number of days in August has varied several times. The ten-month Roman calendar had 30 or 31 days in each month, for a total of 304 days in the year. Pompilius not only added January and February to the calendar, but he also lowered August’s number of days to 29. It wasn’t until Julius Caesar developed the Julian calendar that it was reduced to 31 days, and it has remained unchanged since!

3. Another year, a new beginning! You’d think the month would have had enough after so many changes, but…