According to the Gregorian and the Julian calendars, December is the last and the twelfth month of the entire year. This month is also among the seven months with a length of 31 days and in the last month. The month of December got its name from the Decem word in Latin, meaning ten. Initially, according to the calendar of Romulus dating back to 750 BC.
December was the tenth month as the calendar began from March itself. Then later, January and February months were formed from the month less period and were added in the calendar’s beginning itself, but December continued to retain its original name.
Facts about December
December month according to the ancient Roman calendar- in the ancient Roman calendar, which was used from 750 BC to around 45BC, December was one of the original months and was considered the tenth month. But in 45 BC, Julius Caesar changed the calendar by adding two new months at the beginning of the calendar year, called January and February, and it became the final and the 12th month of the year.
Originally the month had only 30 days- according to the ancient Roman calendar, the month of December consisted of only 30 days. Still, when the calendar was changed into Julian calendar, the month gained one extra day making it the seventh last month containing 31 days in a year.
Birth of Walt Disney- in the year 1901, on December 5, Walt Disney was born, and at the age of 27, he released his first-ever cartoon called the Steamboat Willie featuring Mickey Mouse. And at the age of 54, his Disney Empire grew with the construction of the Disney wonderland in Anaheim city of California. All thanks to the endless number of books, films, cartoons, and various other creations that made Disney a widespread name in every household worldwide.
Dissolution of USSR- the wheels and cogs of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) or known as the soviet union, came to dissolution in 1991 on December 8.
Anglo Saxons- for December, the Anglo Saxons had their names. One such name is the “winter monath,” which translates to winter month.
The death of Alfred Nobel- the world witnessed the death of the Nobel Prize namesake, Alfred Nobel, in 1896 on the 10th of December. Nobel declared in his will that all his accumulated wealth over the years should be used for awarding the members of society with outstanding achievements in the advancement of humanity.
Birth of a new name for the month- after many Anglo Saxons converted to Christianity, a new name for December came forward called the “heligh monath,” which means the holy month.
Another name proposed by Anglo Saxons- the “Yule monath,” was proposed by the Anglo Saxons. The origin of this name is estimated to be related to the custom of burning the Yule log during December and is a part of the pagan Yule festival. Many Yule practices have been lost in today’s time, but in some parts of the world, burning a Yule log is still practiced.
The bill of rights- in the year 1791, on the 15th of December, the bills of rights came into existence. The first ten amendments of this bill of rights are included in the US constitution, and these rights are considered the pillars of US modern-day government and society.
The Battle of Bulge- on the 16th of December in 1944, the battle of Bulge commenced. This battle saw the last ditched counter offensive attack by the German forces in the forest of Ardennes, towards the southeast of modern-day Belgium. The battle saw an astronomically high number of causalities of 130,000 German and 77,000 allied casualties by the time the German force got defeated.
The full moon of December month- traditionally, the full moon in December is known as the full cold moon by various Native American tribes. The name of full moon originated so due to the cold months of winter.
28th December- the unluckiest day of the year- for thousands of years, 28th December has been considered the most unlucky day. This superstition has its origin from the Christ story. According to the mythology, on this day, King Herod ordered all the baby boys to be killed to kill Jesus Christ. And till today, it is considered the most unlucky day of the year in the waster world, and people forbid themselves to start any new work, ventures or simply doing anything good on this day.
Birth of anesthesia medicine- in 1846, on the 21st of December, Dr. Robert Liston used the anesthesia for the first time on a patient at the university college of the hospital in London, Britain.
The united states of America- in 1903, on 30th December, the United States of America took control of Louisiana formally and doubleds its size. America acquired the Louisiana territory from about 885,000 square miles away from France, which cost the US government around $15 million.
The month of holidays- in the US, the December month is full of Christmas-related holidays, starting with an essential holiday called the national egg nog month and continuing with national fruit cake month and the national impaired driving prevention month.
Winter begins from the 1st of December in the northern hemisphere- in the northern hemisphere, the onset of winter takes place from the 1st of December. But in the southern hemisphere, it is entirely the opposite. During December in the southern hemisphere, the onset of summer takes place.
December born have two different star signs- people born in December have two different star signs. If the person is born before the 23rd of December, they have the sign of Sagittarius, but for the people born after the 23rd of December, they have the sign of Capricorn.
Santa clause- Christmas Eve is incomplete with the Santa clause. But initially, the sanity clause was a patron saint of children and was famous as a thieving and pawnbroker. The original name of Santa clause was Saint Nickolas.
A ban on Christmas Eve- in 1647, Christmas Eve was banned by an English puritan leader named Oliver Cromwell. He banned the festivities of Christmas from being seen as the holy day or bad day. Till the year 1660, whosoever was found celebrating Christmas Eve was arrested. This ban was later lifted in the year 1660.
The yuletide in December- the term yuletide was coined from a tradition of Norse where the cutting and burning of the trees take place to bring the winter solstice. This tradition of yuletide is observed for about 12 days and is later known as the 12 days of Christmas Eve.
Christmas tree decoration with each specific meaning- the decorations on a Christmas tree has their specific meanings. The candles decorated near the tree signify the light of the earth, whereas the star at the very top of the tree is a reminder for the first Christmas night. Similarly, the candy cans are a representation of the shepherd’s canes.
December- the only movie with a month’s title to win an Oscar- while many films have the privilege of winning an Oscar, in the entire history of cinema, only one movie has won the Oscar award with a month’s name as its title. The movie December 7th has won the Oscar award and was directed by john ford. The movie was a documentary-based film in 1943 about Pearl Harbor.
The busiest month of the year in terms of cash withdrawals- in the UK, December is considered the busiest month in the whole year for cash withdrawals from the ATMs. It is estimated that about 11 billion Euros were withdrawn in December. This transaction record shows that December month plays a massive role in the transaction sector worldwide.
The month of proposal acceptance- in a survey, it has been observed that the maximum number of marriage proposals is made in December itself. Thus, if you want to propose your love of life, then do it in December as it increases the chances of saying yes to your beloved partner. Moreover, it is observed that the maximum number of proposals is made in the week leading to Christmas Eve.
Maximum apple watches are sold in December only- it has been recorded that the maximum number of apple watches are sold in December itself, and this brings out the fact that a maximum number of people are interested in buying apple watches in December itself as compared to any other month.
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