December is here !

Well, here we are, December!
It's the 12th and last month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian Calendars. And one of seven months with the length of 31 days. December starts on the same day of the week as September every year and ends on the same day as April every year. It is the month with the shortest daylight hours of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and the longest daylight hours of the year in the Southern Hemisphere. December in the Northern Hemisphere is the seasonal equivalent to June in the Southern Hemisphere and vice versa. 

The month of December gets its name from “decem” the Latin for 10, as December was the 10th month in the ancient Roman calendar. 

December is the month when most proposals of marriage are accepted. Most proposals happen in the week leading up to Christmas. 

In the UK the month of December brings the least sunshine! 

December’s traditional birthstone is turquoise. It is considered a symbol of good fortune and success. Zircon and tanzanite are also considered to be December birthstones.

December’s birth flowers are the holly and the paperwhite - a relative of the daffodil with lovely white blooms. 

“Men are April when they woo, December when they wed,” (Shakespeare, As You Like It).

The only film with “December” in its title to win an Oscar was December 7th, a 1943 documentary about Pearl Harbour directed by John Ford. 

International Free Hugs Day is celebrated on December 4th. Give all your loved ones hugs this day.

Human Rights Day is celebrated annually across the world on 10 December. 

Monkey Day is an unofficial holiday celebrated internationally every year on December 14. The holiday was started in 2000, since then, Monkey Day has been celebrated internationally, across countries like the U.S., Canada, Germany, and the United Kingdom.

Using the meteorological calendar, the first day of winter is always 1 December;
however, in 2019 the astronomical winter (Northern Hemisphere) begins 22nd December.

Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day preceding Christmas Day, the widely celebrated annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ. It occurs on December 24th in the Western Christian Church, and is considered one of the most culturally significant celebrations in Christendom and the Western world.

Christmas is an annual commemoration of the birth of Jesus Christ. Also, it is a widely observed holiday, celebrated generally on December 25 by billions of people around the world. Christmas is a civil holiday in many of the world’s nations, is celebrated by an increasing number of non-Christians, and is an integral part of the Christmas and holiday season.

In the Gregorian calendar, New Year’s Eve, the last day of the year, is on December 31st.

I'm sure there are many other interesting things about December. If you know of some others, please include them in the comments.

The above taken from here, here, here and here

All the best Jan