Helen and I are busy learning Italian and I was struck by the names of the last four months of the year.

There are twelve months in a year. Right?

Well now, if that’s the case, then why are the last four named Seventh, Eight, Ninth, Tenth?

Don’t believe me? Then take a look at this –

So, what happened to the other two months, January and February?

Apparently, the Romans ignored these two Winter months in their original Julian calendar which was then left with only 10 months.

They later included those months in their revised calendar and when the Gregorian calendar was adopted in 1582 in place of the Julian calendar, it also recognised January and February, but did not rename the last four months.