May is a month ofspring in the Northern Hemisphere, andautumn in the Southern Hemisphere. Therefore, May in theSouthern Hemisphere is the seasonal equivalent ofNovember in the Northern Hemisphere and vice versa. Late May typically marks the start of the summer vacation season in theUnited States (Memorial Day) andCanada (Victoria Day) that ends onLabor Day, the first Monday of September.
May (inLatin,Maius) was named for theGreek goddessMaia, who was identified with theRoman eragoddess of fertility,Bona Dea, whosefestival was held in May. Conversely, the Roman poetOvid provides a second etymology, in which he says that the month of May is named for themaiores, Latin for "elders", and that the following month (June) is named for theiuniores, or "young people" (Fasti VI.88).
May apples blooming. Common name given due to the plant's tendency to bloom in the month of May.Special devotions to the Blessed Virgin Mary take place in MayIn recent decades, the number of warm temperature records in May has outpaced cold temperature records over a growing portion of Earth's surface.[1]
Eta Aquariids meteor shower appears in May. It is visible from about April 21 to about May 20 each year with peak activity on or around May 6. TheArietids shower from May 22 – July 2, and peaks on June 7. TheVirginids also shower at various dates in May.
May'sbirthstone is theemerald, which is emblematic of love and success. Birth flowers are theLily of the Valley andCrataegus monogyna.[2] Both are native throughout the cool temperate Northern Hemisphere in Asia, Europe, and in the southern Appalachian Mountains in the United States, but have been naturalized throughout the temperate climatic world.
The "Mayflower"Epigaea repens is a North American harbinger of May, and the floral emblem of bothNova Scotia andMassachusetts. Its native range extends from Newfoundland south to Florida, west to Kentucky in the southern range, and to Northwest Territories in the north. Thezodiac signs areTaurus (until May 20) andGemini (May 21 onward).[3][4]
(All Baha'i, Islamic, and Jewish observances begin at the sundown prior to the date listed, and end at sundown of the date in question unless otherwise noted.)
April 29 toMay 5 in Japan, which includes four different holidays, is called "Golden Week". Many workers have up to 10 days off. There is also 'May sickness', where new students or workers start to be tired of their new routine. (In Japan theschool year andfiscal year start on April 1.)
Mayovka, in the context of the lateRussian Empire, was apicnic in the countryside or in a park in the early days of May, hence the name. Eventually, "mayovka" (specifically, "proletarian mayovka") came to mean an illegal celebration ofMay 1 by revolutionary public, typically presented as an innocent picnic.[41]
^"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)
^McGuire, Holly; Keil, Kathryn (2010).Chase's 2010 Calendar of Events. McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.Archived from the original on 2010-07-05. Retrieved2010-03-31.
