Great question! As it turns out, it stems from the Roman calendar system (from which the Julian calendar and then Gregorian calendar evolved). An early Roman calendar system had 10 months (equivalent to March through December, with March starting the calendar year). Around 700 B.C., January and February were added, as part of a series of tweaks to keep things aligned with the seasons, with February originally being at the end of the year. To get things back on track with the seasons, occasionally a intercalary month called Mercedonius would be added to the calendar—in the midst of February.
At the time of Julius Caesar, the 12-month Roman calendar, based in part on lunar motion, was again becoming out of sync. Caesar, aided by the Greek astronomer Sosigenes, reformed the calendar system, changing it to a totally solar calendar: This was the Julian calendar. As part of this new calendar system, the civil year started with January and a leap day (rather than an intercalary month) was added to February every four years. Eventually, the Gregorian calendar evolved as further tweaks were made to align with Earth’s orbit.
Great question! As it turns out, it stems from the Roman calendar system (from which the Julian calendar and then Gregorian calendar evolved). An early Roman calendar system had 10 months (equivalent to March through December, with March starting the calendar year). Around 700 B.C., January and February were added, as part of a series of tweaks to keep things aligned with the seasons, with February originally being at the end of the year. To get things back on track with the seasons, occasionally a intercalary month called Mercedonius would be added to the calendar—in the midst of February.
At the time of Julius Caesar, the 12-month Roman calendar, based in part on lunar motion, was again becoming out of sync. Caesar, aided by the Greek astronomer Sosigenes, reformed the calendar system, changing it to a totally solar calendar: This was the Julian calendar. As part of this new calendar system, the civil year started with January and a leap day (rather than an intercalary month) was added to February every four years. Eventually, the Gregorian calendar evolved as further tweaks were made to align with Earth’s orbit.
Hope this helps! For more information, you might like the following article.
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