Depiction ofharvesting in the August calendar page of theQueen Mary Psalter (fol. 78v), ca. 1310In recent decades, the number of warm temperature records in August has outpaced cold temperature records over a growing portion of Earth's surface.[1]
In theSouthern Hemisphere, August is the seasonal equivalent ofFebruary in theNorthern Hemisphere. In the Northern Hemisphere, August falls in summer. In the Southern Hemisphere, the month falls during winter. In many European countries, August is the holiday month for most workers. Numerous religious holidays occurred during August in ancient Rome.[3]
Certainmeteor showers take place in August. TheKappa Cygnids occur in August, with yearly dates varying. TheAlpha Capricornids meteor shower occurs as early as July 10 and ends around August 10. The Southern Delta Aquariids occur from mid-July to mid-August, with the peak usually around July 28–29. ThePerseids, a major meteor shower, typically takes place between July 17 and August 24, with the peak days varying yearly. The star cluster ofMessier 30 is best observed around August.
Among the aborigines of the Canary Islands, especially among theGuanches ofTenerife, the month of August received the name of Beñesmer orBeñesmen, which was also the harvest festival held that month.[4][5]
The month was originally namedSextilis inLatin because it was the 6th month in the original ten-monthRoman calendar underRomulus in 753 BC, withMarch being the first month of the year. About 700 BC, it became the eighth month whenJanuary andFebruary were added to the year before March by KingNuma Pompilius, who also gave it 29 days.Julius Caesar added two days when he created theJulian calendar in 46BC (AUC708), giving it its modern length of 31 days.
In 8 BC, the month was renamed in honor of EmperorAugustus.[6] According to aSenatus consultum quoted byMacrobius, he chose this month because it was the time of several of his great triumphs, including the conquest of Egypt.[7] Commonly repeated lore has it that August has 31 days because Augustus wanted his month to match the length of Julius Caesar's July, but this is an invention of the 13th century scholarJohannes de Sacrobosco. Sextilis had 31 days before it was renamed. It was not chosen for its length.[8][9]
(All Baha'i, Islamic, and Jewish observances begin at sundown before the listed date and end at sundown on the date in question unless otherwise noted.)
^"Mean Monthly Temperature Records Across the Globe". National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Link is an example for one month; for other months, change the "202501" in the preceding URL toyyyymm, whereyyyy is the four-digit year andmm is the two-digit month (01=January through 12=December)
