December

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This article is about the month. For other uses, see December (disambiguation).
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December (Listeni/dɨˈsɛmbər/ di-SEM-bər) is the twelfth and last month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian Calendars. It is one of seven months with the length of 31 days.

December is the first month of meteorological winter in the Northern Hemisphere. In the Southern Hemisphere, December is the seasonal equivalent to June in the Northern hemisphere, which is the first month of summer. December is the month with the shortest daylight hours of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and the longest daylight hours of the year in the Southern Hemisphere.

December starts on the same day of the week as September every year and ends on the same day of the week as April every year. In common years, April and July of the previous year start on the same day of the week as December of the current year as a common year and October of the previous year always starts on the same day of the week as December of the current year as a leap year while January of the previous years starts on the same day of the week as December of the current year as a leap year and a year immediately after that. July of the previous year ends on the same day of the week as December of the current year as a common year, February and October of the previous year end on the same day of the week as December of the current year as a leap year, and January of the previous year ends on the same day of the week as December of the current year as a leap year and a year immediately before that. December starts on the same day of the week as June of the following year in years immediately before common years and March and November of the following year in years immediately before leap years. December ends on the same day of the week as September of the following year in years immediately before common years and March and June of the following year in years immediately before leap years.

History[edit]

December, from the Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry

December gets its name from the Latin word decem (meaning ten) because it was originally the tenth month of the year in the Roman calendar, which began in March. The winter days following December were not included as part of any month. Later, the months of January and February were created out of the monthless period and added to the beginning of the calendar, but December retained its name.[1]

Events in December[edit]

A Christmas market in Dresden


December symbols[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Macrobius, Saturnalia, tr. Percival Vaughan Davies (New York: Columbia University Press, 1969), book I, chapters 12–13, pp. 89–95.
  2. ^ "International Day of People with Disability". 
  3. ^ "Zodiac signs and date ranges used in astrology". 

See also[edit]

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Look up December in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
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Months and days of the year
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
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