30, 31 I still hesitate
Do you remember Guillaume Depardieu in “Les Apprentis” who responds to the old owner and says “Mat Sup Mat Spé? I don't know, I'm still hesitating » what a marvel.
Well, me, it's the same, like the apprentices, I still hesitate between 30 and 31 for the number of days in the month and I always find myself counting on the back of my fingers like a child to find out which month has how many days.
Except of course for July-August, where there, we know that we do nothing, two months in a row, for 31 days. So why is it like this? This is so because of the moon first; which takes 29 and a half days to revolve around the earth.
From there, everyone tried to settle on it, but the account never fell round. Hence the alternation between 30 and 31, and then February which is used to recover to catch up with the count. But July and August then? Why 31 and 31?
Well then comes Caesar…Jules, his nickname, who decides in 46 BC that the year will have 365 days and twelve months. The month of July is for him, Julius with 31 days of course. But just after, Augustus arrives, his eminent successor, who will name the month of August after him and who, to avoid making anyone jealous, will add one more day to it, for no less than Julius Caesar. That's why Jules and Auguste are on their 31!