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January (pronunciation) (helpinfo) is the first month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and one of seven months with the length of 31 days. The first day of the month is known as New Year's Day. It is on average the coldest month of the year within most of the Northern Hemisphere (where it is the second month of winter) and the warmest month of the year within most of the Southern Hemisphere (where it is the second month of summer). In the Southern Hemisphere January is the seasonal equivalent of July in the Northern Hemisphere.

January starts on the same day of the week as October in common years and starts on the same day of the week as April and July in leap years. In a common year January ends on the same day of the week as February and October and ends on the same day of the week as July in a leap year. Contents 1 History 2 Other names 3 Holidays in January 4 January symbols 5 References History January from the Trs Riches Heures du Duc de Berry

January is named after Janus (Ianuarius) the god of the doorway; the name has its beginnings in Roman mythology coming from the Latin word for door (ianua)  January is the door to the year. Traditionally the original Roman calendar consisted of 10 months totalling 304 days winter being considered a monthless period. Around 713 BC the semi-mythical successor of Romulus King Numa Pompilius is supposed to have added the months of January and February allowing the calendar to equal a standard lunar year (365 days). Although March was originally the first month in the old Roman Calendar January became the first month of the calendar year either under Numa or under the Decemvirs about 450 BC (Roman writers differ). In contrast years in dates were identified by naming two consuls who entered office on May 1 and March 15 before 153 BC when they began to enter office on January 1.

Various Christian feast dates were used for the New Year in Europe during the Middle Ages including March 25 and December 25. However medieval calendars were still displayed in the Roman fashion of twelve columns from January to December. Beginning in the 16th century European countries began officially making January 1 the start of the New Year once againsometimes called Circumcision Style because this was the date of the Feast of the Circumcision being the eighth day from December 25.

Historical names for January include its original Roman designation Ianuarius the Saxon term Wulf-monath (meaning wolf month) and Charlemagne's designation Wintarmanoth (winter / cold month). Other names

In Finnish the month is called tammikuu meaning month of the oak but the original meaning was the month of the heart of winter as tammi has initially meant axis or core. In Czech this month is called leden meaning ice month. In Ukrainian it is meaning cutting or slicing perhaps referring to the wind. Similarly in Croatian January is called sijeanj also meaning cutting or slicing. In Smi it is known as oajagimnnu meaning simply "new year's month". The Turkish word for the month is called Ocak that means stove fireplace.

According to Theodor Mommsen (The History of Rome volume 4 The Revolution ISBN 1-4353-4597-5 page 4) the first of January became the first day of the year in 600 AUC of the Roman Calendar (153 BC) due to disasters in the Lusitanian War. A Lusitanian chief called Punicus invaded the Roman territory defeated two Roman governors and slew their troops. The Romans resolved to send a consul to Spain and in order to accelerate the despatch of aid "they even made the new consuls enter on office two months and a half before the legal time" (15th of March). Holidays in January January painting by Leandro Bassano New Year's Day January 1 Independence Day in Haiti  January 1 Handsel Monday in Scotland and northern England  First Monday Three Wise Men Day or Epiphany in Latin America Spain Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic and is although not celebrated as widely or in the same way as in countries with a Spanish history an official holiday in many European countries for example Austria Italy Sweden Finland Liechtenstein Slovakia and Croatia as well as in parts of Germany and Switzerland.   January 6 Russian and Ukrainian Christmas Eve also known as Svyat Vechir  January 6 Coptic and Russian Orthodox Church Christmas  January 7 Plough Sunday in Scotland and northern England  Sunday after January 6 Coming of Age Day ( Seijin no hi) in Japan  Second Monday National Human Trafficking Awareness Day in the United States  January 11 Feast of the Santo Nio in the Philippines  Third Sunday Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the United States  Third Monday Republic Day in India  January 26 Australia Day in Australia - January 26 Makara Sankranthi (Festival of Harvest) in India  January 15 Auckland Anniversary in Auckland New Zealand  Monday closest to January 29 Burns night in Scotland  January 25 The uniting of Moldavia and Wallachia under the same ruler in 1859 Romania  January 24 National Thank You month January symbols Snow in January January's birthstone is the garnet which represents constancy. Its birth flower is the Dianthus caryophyllus or Galanthus.1 The Chinese floral emblem of January is the Prunus mume.citation needed The Japanese floral emblem of January is the camellia.citation needed

References Wikimedia Commons has media related to: January Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: January Look up january in Wiktionary the free dictionary. January Birth Flower v d eMonths and days of the year January 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 February 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 March 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 April 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 May 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 June 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 July 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 August 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 September 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 October 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 November 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 December 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Related dates January 0  February 30  February 31  March 0