February

A special installment of wakeup with 60 seconds of the history of every day as we discuss February!

The Roman month Februarius was named after the
Latin term februum, which means purification, via the
purification ritual Februa held on February 15 (full moon) in the old
lunar Roman calendar. January and February were the last two months to be added
to the Roman calendar, since the Romans originally considered winter a
monthless period. They were added by Numa Pompilius about 713 BC. February
remained the last month of the calendar year until the time of the decemvirs
(c. 450 BC), when it became the second month. At certain intervals
February was truncated to 23 or 24 days, and a 27-day intercalary month, Intercalaris,
was inserted immediately after February to realign the year with the seasons. [...]