The month of December is the twelfth and last month in the Gregorian calendar. It was the tenth month in the ancient Roman calendar and its name comes from the Latin word decem, meaning “ten”. 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 is the most festive month of the year. It is the month when people all over the world celebrate the birth of Christ, and many activities are carried out in preparation of that great day. The season of preparation, which is called “Advent” in the Christian calendar, begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas.
It is a month of happy traditions. Many people keep up customs that have been in their families for generations. They cook special dishes that originated with their forefathers, such as the English plum pudding or the Swedish lutefisk and other delicacies. December is the month for the singing of Christmas carols, the trimming of the tree, the writing of Christmas cards, and the selection of gifts for Christmas giving.
This is the month of Santa Claus in the United States and the month of Saint Nicholas in the countries of Europe. St. Nicholas has a feast day on the 6th, and on that day he brings fruit and cakes to children who have been good.
The last day of the month closes the year. In Japan it is a time of stocktaking and the payment of debts. December 31 is called “Hogmanay Day” in Scotland and it is a day when adults exchange presents and give cakes to children. It is also Saint Sylvester’s Day, which is observed in Germany and Belgium, with customs that anticipate the New Year. In Belgium, the last child out of bed on the morning of December 31 is a “Sylvester”, a lazy one who has to pay a tribute to early risers. In the United States the last hours of the month and the year constitute New Year’s Eve, a time of merrymaking for adults and Watch Night parties for young people.
The poinsettia has come to be the flower that is symbolic of December. Holly and mistletoe are also special floral decorations used at Christmas time.
This month has two birthstones, the turquoise and the zircon.
December is also:
Bingo Month
Write a Friend Month
National Egg Nog Month
National Fruit Cake Month
From Holiday Insights.com
Did you know? There are occasional “Leap Seconds” added to the official year. We will spare you the detail on those, except to say it helps to correct minor variations. A leap second is a one-second adjustment that is occasionally applied to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) in order to keep its time of day close to the mean solar time, or UT1. Without such a correction, time reckoned by Earth’s rotation drifts away from atomic time because of irregularities in the Earth’s rate of rotation. Since this system of correction was implemented in 1972, 27 leap seconds have been inserted, the most recent on December 31, 2016, at 23:59:60 UTC.
On December 7, 1787 Delaware ratified the Constitution, becoming the 1st state.
On December 12, 1787, Pennsylvania joined the union as the 2nd state.
On December 18, 1787, New Jersey became the 3rd state.
On December 11, 1816 Indiana became the 19th state
On December 10, 1817 Mississippi became the 20th state.
On December 3, 1818, Illinois became the 21st state.
On December 14, 1819, Alabama became the 22nd state.
On December 29, 1845, Texas became the 28th state.
On December 28, 1846, Iowa became the 29th state.