The calendar year in modern chronology is divided into 12 months, each of which follows the other in a strictly defined order. Where is February in this annual cycle?
Russia, like most countries in the world, currently lives according to the Gregorian calendar, which consists of 12 months.
February
February is the second month in the Gregorian calendar, following the end of January. After February ends, in turn comes March. At the same time, the seasonal affiliation of February in different parts of the world differs. Thus, in the Northern Hemisphere, February is the third and last month of winter, while in the Southern Hemisphere it is the third and final month of the calendar summer.
Duration of February
February is one of the most remarkable months compared to other months of the year. Its first feature is the duration of this time interval. So, the Gregorian calendar provides for 365 days in a regular year and 366 days in a leap year. Thus, an equal division of this number of days by the 12 months adopted in the calendar would lead to the fact that the number of days in each of them would be incomplete. Therefore, for the convenience of calculating in the Gregorian calendar, a system was adopted according to which the number of days in months differs. As a result, February was the shortest month, with a typical duration of only 28 days. In addition, it is the only month, the number of days in which in all cases, without exception, is less than 30.
February in a leap year
As you know, the Gregorian calendar has certain assumptions: the exact length of the calendar year, that is, the time interval between the dates of the vernal equinoxes, is 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 46 seconds. Thus, the accepted length of the year provides an annual lag behind the natural cycle. To correct this omission in the Gregorian calendar, it is customary to increase the length of the year by one day once every 4 years: thus, a leap year consists not of 365, but of 366 days.
This, in turn, gave rise to another feature of February. Apparently, due to its insignificant duration compared to other months, it was he who became a kind of marker of a leap year: this year, one more day is added to the usual 28 days of February. Thus, once every 4 years, February has 29 days instead of 28. This situation creates some inconvenience for those who were born on this day: in fact, they can celebrate their holiday only once every 4 years. The last leap year was 2012, so the next extra day in February will appear in 2016.
