Because whoever invented it made it short. Who invented February?The Ancient Romans. Really?Yes, really. The word “February” comes from the Latin februare (meaning “to purify”) as February was the last month on the Roman calendar and contained the Roman feast of purification, Februa. So, the calendar started in march?Exactly. In fact, the names for September, October, November, and December are rooted in the Latin numbers septem (seven), octō (eight), novem (nine), and decem (ten) as they were the last of the ten months. Wait, what two months are missing?January and February. I thought february was a month.It is, but it wasn’t originally. See, the first Roman calendar had ten months loosely based on the lunar cycle, with six months of 30 days and four of 31. This worked for early Rome since the civilization was largely agrarian, with March beginning the planting season and December ending the harvesting season. The time in between was unimportant to the Roman farmer, so they didn’t bother naming it. So, where did february come from?A long process of calendar revisions. Numa Pompilius, the second king of Rome, created the months January and February to fill the winter, but there was a problem with the numbers. See, the Romans had a fear of even numbers. To remedy this, March, May, July, and October kept their 31 days, while January, April, June, August, September, and December went down to 29. February remained 28 to ensure there were an odd number of days in the year and became a month of purification. What happened to the 29-day months?Well, the calendar our friend Numa Pompilius came up with was still based on lunar months and only had 355 days, 10.25 days short of our solar calendar. These days started adding up, and eventually the calendar started not syncing up with growing seasons. Julius Caesar himself decided to fix this, creating a solar calendar comprised of January (31 days), February (28 days), March (31 days), April (30 days), May (31 days), June (30 days), July (31 days), August (31 days), September (30 days), October (31 days), November (30 days), and December (31 days). So, why is feBruary so short?February is short because it is traditionally the time of the Roman festival of purity, which was created because of a superstition of even numbers. Curious? Here's some more information!
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Which carol? Let's start with rudolph.Well actually, the book came first. There's a book?Yes. Written by Robert May in 1939, the book was originally a part of an advertising campaign for Montgomery Ward. After the book became a hit, May's brother-in-law, songwriter Johnny Marks, created the classic carol, and Gene Autry recorded the song in 1949. The classic stop-motion film was released in 1964 as a TV special, and since has become a holiday favorite. Well, What about Frosty?Frosty's song came first and was originally recorded by Gene Autry a year after Rudolph. After this song was also a success, it too inspired an animation short by Rankin/Bass Productions. However, since Santa plays a role in the movie, the final line was changed to “I'll be back on Christmas day” as opposed to the original “I'll be back again someday”. And SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN?I think you know the answer to this one: the song. This one was also picked up by Rankin/Bass Productions and made into a short stop-motion animated classic. Wait, do they just Make movies out oF any old holiday song?Sure seems like it. They are also the masterminds behind The Little Drummer Boy and Here Come Peter Cottontail (which isn’t a Christmas movie, but it’s another traditional holiday song so I’m going with it). So, Which came first: The carol or the movie?Usually the carol, but occasionally the weird, unheard of book pops up. Either way, you can bet that it’ll be made into an animated short that's played in living rooms across the country for years to come. Curious? Here's some more information!
To celebrate somebody’s birthday! Yeah, but why do we sing? Couldn't we just eat cake and give presents?See, back in the day, there were limited sources of entertainment, so the rich turned to minstrels and troubadours. Even before them came chants and songs at times of celebration in many cultures. It’s just what we do. What are MINSTRELs and trubadours?A Medieval source of entertainment. They could be hired out or would travel around, singing songs and performing for money. ok, but why “Happy Birthday to you”?Probably because it’s someone’s birthday. I mEan, were there no alterNATIVES? THE SONG'S KINDA BORING.This I cannot refute. Unfortunately, the only person who gets top-ten hits written for their birthday is Jesus, and that’s because approximately 2.3 billion people believe he’s the Messiah. Two sisters, Patty and Mildred Hill, wrote the song for the rest of us. WHY WOULD THEY DO THAT?Well, they were kindergarten teachers and wrote songs for their students. One of these songs was called “Good Morning to All.” The lyrics were simple: Good morning to you; good morning to you – good morning, good morning, good morning to all. WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH “Happy Birthday to You”?Sing “Good Morning to All” to the tune of the birthday song. GOT IT. SO WAS THE BIRTHDAY VERSION ALSO WRITTEN FOR THEIR STUDENTS?There's not really a consensus on that one. Some people think one of the sisters made it up at a party, while others think it came from the children playing around with the words. Either way, it’s short, simple, and catchy tune soon made it a hit among the populous. And now it's used by everyone?As of 2015, yes. Wait, What?Well, here's the thing. See the government has this lovely thing called copyright law, which protects people from getting their ideas stolen. Musical artists use this to ensure no one makes thousands on the song they spent a lot of time working on. Warner/Chappell, the publishing arm of Warner Music, claimed to have ownership of the song since 1988 when it bought Birch Tree Group, the publisher of the Hill sisters' book, “Song Stories for the Kindergarten.” In publishing their book, Birch Tree Group had claimed the rights to the song since 1935. That's right; these companies have been collecting money off “Happy Birthday to You” for 80 years. In 2013, a lawsuit was filled against Warner/Chappell by many artists and filmmakers who wanted the company to return the fees collected for use of the song and turn it over to the public domain so it would be free to all. Warner/Chappell lost this battle towards the end of 2015 and ended up returning $14 million in February of 2016. So, WHY DO WE SING HAPPY BIRTHDAY?We sing Happy Birthday because singing is a traditional human form of celebration, and two kindergarten teachers came up with a simple yet catchy tune that became so popular it would be used by companies in the future to rake in the big bucks. curious? Here's some more iNfo!
An October candy that either tastes like fall or earwax, depending on who you ask. Ok, but what's in it?Pretty much just sugar. According to their website, Brach's classic candy corn contains “Sugar, Corn Syrup, Confectioner's Glaze, Salt, Dextrose, Gelatin, Sesame Oil, Artificial Flavor, Honey, Yellow 6, Yellow 5, Red 3.” What are confectioner's Glaze and dextRose?Weird stuff. Confectioner's glaze is 35% shellac. Shellac is a sticky substance, or resin, excreted by female lac insects after they have eaten a lot of tree bark. The resin is then harvested, heated, filtered. and mixed with an alcohol solution to create a food glaze, so that’s fun. As for dextrose, it’s just a simple sugar that is chemically identical to glucose. wait. so, if sugar, dextrose, honey, and corn syrup are all types of sugar, how much sugar is in these candies?Short answer: a lot. According to the Brach's nutrition label, there are about 28 grams of sugar in 19 pieces, or a serving. In case you were wondering exactly how much that is, one can of regular Red Bull has 27 grams of sugar, according to their website. You read that right; an entire can of Red Bull has less sugar than 19 pieces of Brach's candy corn. And if you were wondering how much sugar your body needs, the American Heart Association recommends women have no more than 25 grams and men have no more than 36 grams of sugar daily. A serving of candy corn is more than my recommended daily sugar intake. So, yeah, candy corn is basically straight sugar. So they aren't made of corn?What do you think corn syrup is? It’s literally a syrup made from corn. Is that why It's called candy corn?No. Candy corn was created to look like individual corn kernels. In fact, it’s original name was “Chicken Feed.” You see, although the candy was originally invented in the 1880s, trick-or-treating wasn’t really big until after World War II, when the sugar rations were lifted. At that point, most of America was agrarian, so, to please the people, they made candy pumpkins, turnips, chestnuts, and clover leaves in addition to the candy corn. While the pumpkins still remain, we have gotten rid of the others, which is probably for the best. so, what is candy corn?A highly controversial fall candy containing Asian Beetle resin and excessive amounts of sugar that became a fall staple by catering to the populous farmers of America, gradually working its way into being a Halloween tradition. curious? Here's some more reading!
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