eli5: Why did we design the months in such a way that winter is in January, February and December in a given calendar year?

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Idk if this is a stupid question or not lol. Obviously when moving from one year to the next, January is right in front of December, e.g. December 2023 is right behind January 2024, but is there a reason that months were designed so that winter carries on into the next calendar year?

We have 12 months and 4 seasons, so each season perfectly divides into 3 months a season. With that in mind, why didn’t we design the months so that winter is in 3 consecutive months within the same calendar year?

I’m not sure if I’ve articulated what I mean properly, so let me know if further clarification is needed.

In: Planetary Science

12 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Not a historical answer, but I’ve always thought the cycle of the year in the northern hemisphere is a nice analogue for the cycle of the day. The day begins at midnight, and then the sun gradually gets higher in the sky until midday, and then ends again at midnight. The (northern hemisphere) year starts near the winter solstice, the “midnight” of the year, and then we get more and more sun until the midyear summer solstice when it starts to set again.

Fun trivia fact: the Jewish day begins at sundown, and the new year begins close to the fall equinox, the “dusk” of the year.

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