January
January is the
first month of the
year and one of seven
Gregorian months with the length of 31
days.
January begins (astrologically) with the sun in the sign of
Capricorn and ends in the sign of
Aquarius. Astronomically speaking, the sun begins in the constellation of
Sagittarius and ends in the constellation of
Capricornus.
January is named for
Janus (
Ianuarius), the god of the doorway and beginnings in
Roman mythology.
See:-
Months in various calendarsTraditionally, the original
Roman calendar consisted of 10 months of 304 days, 61 days of winter being considered a monthless period. Around
713 BC, the semi-mythical successor of
Romulus, King
Numa Pompilius, is supposed to have added the months of January and
February, allowing the calendar to equal a standard lunar year (355 days). The first day of the month is known as
New Year's Day. Although
March was originally the first month in the old Roman Calendar, January assumed that position beginning in
153 BC when the two
consuls, for whom the years were named, began to be chosen on
January 1. The reason for this shift of the new year into the dead of winter was to allow the new consuls to complete the elections and ceremonies upon becoming consuls, and still reach their respective consular armies by the start of the campaigning season.
In AD
525, New Year's Day was set at
March 25 by
Dionysius Exiguus to commemorate the
Annunciation of
Jesus. Various Christian feast dates were used for the
New Year in
Europe in the
Middle Ages, however, mediaeval calendars were often displayed in the Roman fashion of twelve columns from January to
December. Beginning in the
15th century, European countries began officially making
January 1 the start of the New Year once again — sometimes called
Circumcision Style because this was the date of the
Feast of the Circumcision, being the 8th day from
December 25.
Historical names for January include its original Roman designation, Ianuarius, the
Saxon term Wulf-monath (meaning wolf month) and
Charlemagne's designation Wintarmanoth (winter / cold month). In
Finnish, the month is called
tammikuu, meaning
month of the oak. This month is in
Czech called
leden, meaning
ice month.
|
January, from the Très riches heures du duc de Berry |
The first
Monday in January is known as
Handsel Monday in
Scotland and northern
England. In England, the agricultural year began with
Plough Sunday on the
Sunday after
Epiphany.
The
Coming of Age day in
Japan is the second Monday of January, for those becoming 20 years old in the new calendar year. It is a national holiday. The day has been celebrated since 1948, but fell on
January 15 until 1999, when it was moved by the
Japanese government in an attempt to lift the economy by making more holidays consecutive.
In the
pagan wheel of the year, January ends at or near to
Imbolc in the northern hemisphere and
Lughnasadh in the southern hemisphere.
Historical Firsts
*7 First American
presidental election, 1789
*9 Seeing
eye dogs first trained to guide the blind in
Nashville,
Tennessee, 1929
*10 First great
oil discovery in
Texas, 1901
*10 First
United Nations General Assembly met in
London, 1946
*21
Nautilus, first atomic
submarine launched, 1954
*23
Elizabeth Blackwell, first modern woman
physician, graduated from
Geneva Medical School of western
New York, 1849
*24
Gold first discovered in
California, 1848
*27
Canadian Great Western Railway first opened, 1854
Historical Events
Holidays
Births
Deaths
*January in the
Northern Hemisphere is the seasonal equivalent to
July in the
Southern Hemisphere and vise versa.
*Leap years exempted, January always begins on the same day as
October.
*January's
birthstone is
garnet.
*January's
flower is the
carnation or
snowdrop.
*The Chinese floral emblem of January is the plum blossom
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