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May

fifth month in the Julian and Gregorian calendars
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May is the fifth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars, coming between April and June. It has 31 days. The month of May might have been named for the Roman goddess Maia, or more likely the Roman goddess of fertility Bona Dea, whose festival was held in May.

May never begins or ends on the same day of the week as any other month.

May's flower is the Lily of the Valley. Its birthstone is the emerald. The meaning of the emerald is success in love.

The Month

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Flowers and Trees in full bloom in the Northern Hemisphere, where May is in late Spring.

May comes between April and June and is the fifth month of the year in the Gregorian calendar. It is one of the seven months to have 31 days. In the older Roman calendar, May was the third month of the year. It is a spring month in the Northern Hemisphere and an autumn month in the Southern Hemisphere. In each hemisphere, it is the seasonal equivalent of November in the other. May is likely to have been named after the Roman goddess Maia, though there is a theory that May might have its name from the Latin "Maiores", meaning "Seniors". The same theory suggests that June would then be named from "Iuniores", meaning "Juniors".

No other month of any year either begins or ends on the same day of the week as May: this month is the only one that has both of these properties.

In common years, May starts on the same day of the week as August of the previous year, and in leap years, March and November of the previous year. In common years, May finishes on the same day of the week as August and November of the previous year, and in leap years, March and June of the previous year. In leap years and years immediately after that, May starts on the same day of the week as February of the previous year.

Every year, May both starts and finishes on the same day of the week as January of the following year, as each other's first and last days are exactly 35 weeks (245 days) apart. In years immediately before common years, May starts on the same day of the week as October of the following year, and in years immediately before leap years, April and July of the following year. In years immediately before common years, May finishes on the same day of the week as February and October of the following year, and in years immediately before leap years, July of the following year.

In the Northern Hemisphere, May is in late Spring, and May Day on May 1 and Walpurgis Night, during the night of April 30 to May 1, are symbolic of the transition from winter to summer. In the Southern Hemisphere, it is in autumn, and comes just before the Antarctic winter, when emperor penguins breed there.

Events in May

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Special devotions to the Virgin Mary take place in May.[1]

Fixed Events

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A May Tree symbolic of May 1, May Day, in Germany.
 
Victory Day celebration in Moscow on May 9.
 
Celebration of Constitution Day in Norway on May 17.

Moveable and Monthlong Events

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References

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  1. ↑ "CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary". www.newadvent.org.

Selection of Historical Events

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Newspaper celebrating Victory in Europe Day on May 8, 1945.
 
Painting showing agreement of Norway's Constitution on May 17, 1814.
 
Mount Saint Helens erupting on May 18, 1980.
 
A member of the public posing on the opening day of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco on May 27, 1937.
 
Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay on their way to climbing Mount Everest on May 29, 1953.

Trivia

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The Rosa chinensis is a flower symbolizing May.
Months of the Year

January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December

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