August, Get Back To Work!!!
On Sundays I usually relax. August is the month of relaxing.
August is the eighth month of the year (between July and September) and one of seven months with a length of 31 days.
August does not start on the same day of the week as any other month in the year in common years, but ends on the same day of the week as November every year. During leap years, August starts on the same day as February and still ends on same day as November.
In the Southern Hemisphere, August is the seasonal equivalent of February in the Northern Hemisphere. In many European countries, August is the holiday month for most workers. It is considered the busiest time for tourism because it falls in the main school summer holiday period.
Certain meteor showers take place in August. The Kappa Cygnids take place in August with the dates varying each year, the Alpha Capricornids meteor shower takes place as early as July 10 and ends at around August 10, and the Southern Delta Aquariids take place from mid-July to mid-August with the peak usually around July 28–29. The Perseids, a major meteor shower, typically takes place between July 17 - August 24, with the days of the peak varying yearly.
The star cluster of Messier 30 is best observed around August.
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 (despite common belief, he 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.
In ancient Rome, Supplicia canum was held on August 3, Lychnapsia was held on August 12, Nemoralia was held from August 13–15 (or on the full moon of August), Tiberinalia and Portumnalia were held on August 17, Consuales Ludi was held on August 18, Vinalia rustica was held on August 19, Vulcanalia was held on August 23, Opiconsivia was held on August 25, and Volturnalia was held on August 27. These dates do not correspond to the modern Gregorian calendar.
August is the month with highest birth rate in the United States.
Its birth flower is the gladiolus or poppy which represents beauty, strength, love, marriage and family. The birthstone for August is the peridot or onyx.
Credit goes to Wikipedia and timeanddate.com for many facts in this post.
