January, as we know, is a pleasantly cold month that marks the beginning of our new years. The first thing that we all do when the new year rings in is get brand new calendars and put them all over our house. Well, not all of us do that but you know what I mean.? While we are on that, sometimes I wonder, has it always been like that? It's difficult to imagine a time when there was no 1st of January, I mean how did people celebrate the new year at that time?? TODAY I'LL BE ANSWERING THAT. January is almost over but we do have a few days left. So before saying our goodbyes to this month and to all the New Year hangover, let's learn a thing or two about the month of JANUARY. But first, let me tell you the journey of the calendar. The actual name of our modern day calendar is GREGORIAN CALENDER. Prior to this, there were two more formats of the calendar: THE ROMAN CALENDER ♦ It was the most unstable calendar as it was altered a number of times between the founding and the fall of the Roman Empire. ♦ There were originally ten months starting from modern day 'March to December". (January and February were added later) ♦ The year had 304 days, rest 61 days were conveniently ignored. THE JULIAN CALENDAR ♦ Later, around 46 BC, the Roman emperor Julius Ceaser reformed the Roman Calendar and on 1st January, 45 BC, the JULIAN CALENDAR came into effect. (  Our New Year's Day was here. YAY! ) ♦Now there were 365 days. THE GREGORIAN CALENDAR ♦ Sadly, there were some errors in the Julian Calendar as well, and so, in 1582, Pope Gregory XIII gave to the world, THE GREGORIAN CALENDAR which is till date the most used calendar worldwide. ♦ The concept of leap year was also introduced. HOW JANUARY GOT THIS NAME ♦ January comes from the name of Roman God JANUS - the God of DOORS. it's quite clear that this month is considered to open the doors to the new year and thus to the new beginnings. ♦ Janus, "the spirit of transitions" is believed to have two faces, possessing the ability to see the past and the future and so does the month of January, one face looking backward into the old year and the other one looking forward to the new year. JANUARY ENTERS THE CALENDER ♦ It is believed that the Roman king Numa Pompilius added the month of January which had 30 days. ♦ Later, in the Julian Calendar, January got one extra day(in order to rectify some errors), making it 31 days long. JANUARY IN OTHER LANGUAGES ♦ French              ⇒   Janvier ♦ Spanish            ⇒   Enero ♦ Latin Ianuarius ⇒   Ianuarius ♦ Hindi                 ⇒   जनवरी JANUARY TRIVIA ♦ The zodiac signs for the month of January are Capricorn (until January 19) and Aquarius (January 20 onwards). ♦ It's the National Staying Healthy Month ( of course it is ?) ♦ Leap years exempted, January always begins on the same day as October. ♦ In leap years, January always begins on the same day as April and July. ♦ On average, it is the coldest month of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. ♦ In the Southern Hemisphere January is a summer month the equivalent of July. FAMOUS BIRTHDAYS IN JANUARY ♦ SUBHASH CHANDRA BOSE: JANUARY 23, 1897 ♦ ELVIS PRESLEY: JANUARY 8, 1935 ♦ MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.: JANUARY 15, 1929 ♦ MUHAMMAD ALI: JANUARY 17, 1942 Well, that was quite some "January knowledge" and I'll sign off with this quote: "New Year's Day is every man's birthday." - Charles Lamb AND SO WE WOULD LIKE TO BELIEVE!? To learn more, download our app Namaste English.