Why Is February the Shortest Month? | K12 Teaching Moment

Happy February! It’s the month we celebrate Black history, love, and famous presidents— yet it’s the shortest of the year. Why, you ask? Find out in this K12 Teaching Moment.

Let’s travel back in time to ancient Rome. The Roman calendar year began in March and only had 304 days. That was until Roman king Numa Pompilius decided to align the calendar with the Lunar New Year, typically up to 355 days long.

Romans were superstitious of even numbers and considered them unlucky. So, King Pompilius added January and February to the calendar and changed each month to an odd number of days, either 29 or 31. But odd numbers across 12 months would sum up to an even number!

February had to be the “odd one out” with a mere 28 days.
The calendar we know today has changed since then, but February is stuck with 28 days—29 if it’s a leap year, but that’s a different episode!