The Months: History of January

posted in: Months of the Year | 0

January is the first month of the year on both the Julian and Gregorian calendars.

January is the coldest month in the Northern Hemisphere

The first day of the month of January is New Year’s Day. 

January is also the first month of the year to have 31 days.

On average, January is the coldest month of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and the warmest month of the year in the Southern Hemisphere.

January is considered the door to the year, due to it’s Latin origins, which means door.

According to the Roman farmer’s almanac, Juno, was the spirit or god of the month.  However, in Roman
mythology, Janus, is the god of beginnings and traditions.

January originates from one or both of these words.

According to historians, January became the first day of the year on the Roman Calendar in the year 600 AUC {or 153 BC}. This was due to a disastrous outcome following the Lusitanian War.

January sees the official end of Christmas and the Twelve Days of Christmas {did you know this actually starts on Christmas day?} with the arrival of Epiphany on January 6th.

The birthstone for January is garnet.  The birth flower of the month is a cottage pink carnation or a snowdrop.

In Finnish, the month of January is referred to as tammikuu, which means “oak moon” and the heart of winter.

Those born between January 1-19, fall under the Capricorn sign, while those born from January 20th through mid-February are an Aquarius.

Snowdrop flowers

January is known as National Mentoring Month, National Codependency Awareness Month, Hot Tea Month, National Soup Month and Oatmeal Month.
