August

August (pronunciation) is the eighth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with a length of 31 days.^[1]

This month was originally named Sextilis in Latin, because it was the sixth month in the original ten-month Roman calendar under Romulus in 753 BC, when March was the first month of the year. About 700 BC it became the eighth month when January and February were added to the year before March by King Numa Pompilius, who also gave it 29 days. Julius Caesar added two days when he created the Julian calendar in 45 BC giving it its modern length of 31 days. In 8 BC it was renamed in honor of Augustus, who did not take a day from February (see the debunked theory on month lengths). He chose this month to take his name rather than his birth month - which was traditional - as a mark of honour to the defeated Queen Cleopatra the last ruler of Egypt, this being her birth month.

In common years no other month starts on the same day of the week as August, though in leap years February starts on the same day.

Other names

• In Afrikaans, the month is called augustus
• In Arabic, the month is called أغسطس ʾUġusṭuṣ or آب ʾĀb; usage varies from place to place and person to person.
• In Bulgarian, the month is known as Август
• In Chinese, the month is known as 八月 meaning, simply, "eighth month."
• In Croatian, the month is called kolovoz
• In Czech, the month is called srpen
• In Danish the month is called August
• In Dhivehi, the month is called Augastu
• In Dutch the month is called augustus
• In Estonian the month is called august
• In Filipino, the month is called agosto, from a Spanish origin
• In Finnish, the month is called elokuu, meaning "harvest month"
• In French, the month is called août (pronounced "OOT" or just "OO") derived from the Latin augustus.
• In German, the month is called August (August')
• In Greek, the month is called Avgoustos (Αύγουστος')
• In Hungarian, the month is called augusztus
• In Indonesian, the month is known as Agustus
• In Irish, August is known as Lúnasa, a modern rendition of Lughnasadh, from the god Lugh.
• In Italian, Portuguese and Spanish, the month is called agosto from the Latin Augustus.
• In Japanese, the month is called hachigatsu (八月), meaning, simply, "eighth month."
• In Korean, the month is called parwol (팔월, 八月) meaning, simply, "eighth month."
• In Latvian, the month is called Augusts
• In Lithuanian, the month is called rugpjūtis
• In Malay, the month is known as Ogos
• In Persian, the month is called اوت و آگوست (ut, also Agust)
• In Polish, the month is called sierpień, meaning "[month of the] sickle".
• In Romanian, the month is called august
• In Russian, the month is called avgust (авгуcт)
• In Samoan, the month is called aukuso
• In Serbian the month is called avgust (авгуcт)
• In Sinhalese the month is called අගෝස්තු "agostu"
• In Spanish, the month is called agosto
• In Swedish, the month is named augusti, literally plural of the Latin augustus – "the venerable".
• In Thai, the month is called สิงหาคม Sing-ha-kom representing the Singha (lion)
• In Turkish, the month is called Ağustos
• In Ukrainian, the month is called Серпень
• In Vietnamese, the month is called Thang Tam (Or simply called the 'Eighth Month')
• In Welsh, the month is called Awst

Events in August

August, from the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry showing a group of travelers and the Duc's Château d'Étampes in the background

• In the neopagan wheel of the year August begins at or near Lughnasadh in the northern hemisphere and Imbolc in the southern hemisphere.
• Some of Ireland's most famous battles have been fought in this month. They include: the Second Battle of Athenry (1316); the battle of Knockdoe (1504); the Battle of the Yellow Ford (1596); the First Battle of Curlew Pass (1599); the Battle of Dungans Hill (1647); the Battle of Castlebar (1798), and the Battle of the Bogside (1969).
• August 1, Yorkshire Day.
• August 1, Swiss National Day, a public holiday in Switzerland.
• August 5, International Beer Day, a holiday in celebration of beer.
• August 6, Bolivia's independence day.
• August 6 National Salvadoran-American Day in the United States.
• August 6, 1945, Hiroshima is bombed, for the first time in history nuclear weapon was used against people. The nuclear weapon used on Hiroshima is known as Little Boy.
• August 9, 1945, Nagasaki is bombed, this is the second and the last known use of nuclear weapon against people. The nuclear weapon used on Nagasaki is known as Fat Man.
• August 9, 1965, Singapore separated from the Federation of Malaysia and became independent.
• August 9 is National Women's Day in South Africa.
• August 10, 1822, Ecuador became an independent country.
• August 14, 1947, Pakistan became independent (included East Bengal region as a whole).
• August 15, Catholic, Feast of the Assumption
• August 15, 1769, Corsica, birth of Napoleon Bonaparte
• August 15, 1945, Emperor Hirohito declares Japan's unconditional surrender officially ending the Second World War.
• August 15, 1945, Korea became an independent country.
• August 15, 1947, India became an independent country.
• August 17, 1945, Indonesia became an independent country.
• August 18, 1920, The 19th Amendment is signed, giving US women the right to vote and for suffrage.
• August 19, 1945, Vietnam's August Revolution succeeded.
• August 20, 1083, Hungary's Saint Stephen canonized (1001 AD), thus becoming the first of the canonized confessor kings. St. Stephen's day is a national holiday in Hungary as well as an observed holiday for many Hungarian-Americans and other Hungarians around the world.
• August 20, 1991, Estonia regains its independence, formally leaving the Soviet Union which had annexed it back in World War II.
• August 21, 1959, Hawaii became the 50th state of the United States of America. The third Friday of August was designated Statehood Day, a state holiday.
• August 25, 1825, Uruguay became independent from Brazil.
• August 31, 1957, Federation of Malaya (now Malaysia) became an independent country.

Monthlong events in August

• Edinburgh Festival is an internationally famous arts festival that takes place during August
• National Immunization Awareness Month
• National Psoriasis Awareness Month
• In many European countries, August is the holiday month for most workers
• The Philippines celebrates August as the Buwan ng Wika ("Language Month")
• In the United States, August is National Back to School month. Some US School districts and systems return to school in August.
• In the United States, August is National Goat Cheese Month.^[2]
• American Adventures Month
• Audio Appreciation Month
• Black Business Month
• Cataract Awareness Month
• Children's Eye Health and Safety Month
• Children's Vision and Learning Month
• Get Ready for Kindergarten Month
• Happiness Happens Month
• Inventors' Month
• Neurosurgery Outreach Month
• Panini Month
• Spinal Muscular Atrophy Awareness Month
• What Will Be Your Legacy Month
• Win with Civility Month^[3]

Weeklong events in August

• During the first week of August in Wales, the National Eisteddfod of Wales is held, in which many aspects of Welsh art and culture are celebrated.
• During the first week of August in Sweden, the Medieval Week of Wisby in Gotland is held each year.
• During the first week of August is World Breastfeeding Week.
• The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is held the first full week in August each year.
• The middle week of August is the peak of the Perseid meteor shower.
• The Pennsic War, a massive gathering of the Society for Creative Anachronism, takes place about the first week of August every year.
• The first week of August is "Indian Week" for the Penobscot Tribe in Old Town, Maine. In this week, members of the Penobscot Tribe from all over Maine venture to the Penobscot Indian Island Reservation in Old Town and take part in games, Native American arts and crafts, pow-wows, cook-outs, etc.

Other August events

• The first full weekend in August each year, Twinsburg, Ohio, celebrates Twins Days.
• Bon festival – (Obon Festival) is a Japanese traditional buddhist custom, evolved into a family reunion holiday. Many Japanese manufacturers and firms give their employees three to five days off around August 15.

Daily events in August

Last Sunday

• The Philippines celebrates National Heroes Day in commemoration of the First Cry of the Philippine Revolution on August 23, 1896.

August symbols

Gladiolus

August's birthstone is the peridot or onyx. Its birth flower is the gladiolus or poppy, meaning beauty, strength of character, love, marriage and family.^[4]

References

Further reading

• August: Let's get rid of it, by David Plotz, Slate Magazine, slate.com