October (Roman month) October (Roman month) October (from Latin "octo", "eight") or mensis October was the eighth of ten months on the oldest Roman calendar. It had 31 days. October followed September (from "septem", "seven") and preceded November ("novem", "nine"). After the calendar reform that resulted in a 12-month year, October became the tenth month, but retained its numerical name, as did the other months from September through December. Some of the observances in October marked the close of the season for military campaigning and farming, which commenced in March ("Martius", "Mars' month"). October was under the guardianship "(tutela)" of Mars. The Romans
Adoption of the Gregorian calendar proved unable to keep up with the demand for copies. Catholic states such as France, the Italian principalities, Poland, Spain (along with her European and overseas possessions), Portugal and the Catholic states of the Holy Roman Empire were first to change to the Gregorian calendar. Thursday, 4 October 1582 was followed by Friday, 15 October 1582, with ten days skipped. Countries that did not change until the 18th century had by then observed an additional leap year (1700), necessitating the dropping of eleven days. Some countries did not change until the 19th or 20th century, necessitating one or two further