Facts about the month of August

August Month facts

How many of you here was born in the month of August? Well as most of us tell, the month of August is named after the roman emperor, Augustus. Well in fact that's true.

This month was originally named Sextilis in Latin, because it was the sixth month in the ancient Roman calendar, which started in March about 750 BC under Romulus. It became the eighth month either when January and February were added to the beginning of the year by King Numa Pompilius about 700 BC or when those two months were moved from the end to the beginning of the year by the decemvirs about 450 BC (Roman writers disagree). It was renamed in honor of Augustus in 8 BC because several of the most significant events in his rise to power, culminating in the fall of Alexandria, which fell in this month. Lore claims August originally had 29 days in the Roman Republican calendar. Augustus took two days from February and gave it to August when Sextilis was renamed in his honor. See Month lengths how this commonly believed lore was proven wrong.

August is the eighth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. August begins (astrologically) with the sun in the sign of Leo and ends in the sign of Virgo. Astronomically speaking, the sun begins in the constellation of Cancer and ends in the constellation of Leo.

August is the height of the summer time in the temperate zone of the Northern Hemisphere. The longest days of the year is passed, but the hot days remain. In the northern regions and mountains, cool nights and early frosts lets one know that the summer is about to come to an end. In the Southern Hemisphere, August means the winter will soon be over.

The birds are already planning to fly south for the winter. The insects are more noisier and numerous than in any other month. This is perhaps the busiest month for businesses, since most people take their vacations in August.


Other interesting names for August:

-In Polish, the month is called sierpień, meaning "month of sickle"
-In Swedish, the month is named augusti, literally plural of the Latin augustus - "the venerable"
-In Finnish, the month is called elokuu, meaning "month of reaping" or literally, "month of life"
-In Japanese, the month is called hachigatsu (八月), meaning, simply, "eighth month."
-In Irish, August is known as Lúnasa, a modern rendition of Lughnasadh, from the god Lugh.The first Monday in August is a holiday in the Republic of Ireland.


Another interesting thing about the month August is there are EIGHT COUNTRIES who gained independence during the month of August.

-August 9, 1965 Singapore separated from the Federation of Malaysia and became independent.
-August 10, 1822 Ecuador became an independent country.
-August 14, 1947 Pakistan became independent (included East Bengal region as a whole).
-August 15, 1945 Korea became an independent country.
-August 15, 1947 India became an independent country.
-August 17, 1945 Indonesia became an independent country.
-August 25, 1825 Uruguay became independent from Brazil.
-August 31, 1957 Malaysia became an independent country.

FACTS ABOUT AUGUST on INTERESTING | UNUSUAL FACTS