Welcome to August.



August About this
sound
(pronunciation) ( help.
info) is the eighth
month of the
year in the
Julian and
Gregorian Calendars and
one of seven months with a length of 31 days.
[1]

This month was originally named
Sextilis in Latin, because it was the
sixth month in the original ten-month
Roman calendar under
Romulus in 753 BC, when
March was the first month of the year.
About 700 BC it became the eighth month when
January and
February were added to the year
before March by King Numa
Pompilius, who also gave it 29 days.
Julius Caesar added two days
when he created the Julian
calendar in 45 BC giving it its modern
length of 31 days. In 8 BC it was
renamed in honor of
Augustus, who did not take a day
from February (see the
debunked theory on month lengths). According to a
Senatus consultum quoted by
Macrobius, he chose this month
because it was the time of several of his great triumphs, including the
conquest of Egypt. [2]

In the Southern
Hemisphere, August is the seasonal equivalent of
February in the
Northern Hemisphere.

In common years no other month starts on the same day of the week as August,
though in leap years February starts on the same day. August ends on the
same day of the week as November every year.