''For other uses, see
December (disambiguation)''
'December' is the
twelfth and last
month of the
year in the
Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31
days.
December begins (astrologically) with the
sun in the sign of
Sagittarius and ends in the sign of
Capricorn. Astronomically speaking, the sun begins in the constellation of
Ophiuchus, which is the only zodiacal constellation that is not counted as an astrological sign, and ends in the constellation of
Sagittarius.
In Latin, ''decem'' means "
ten". December was also the tenth month in the
Roman calendar until a monthless winter period was divided between
January and
February. December's
flower is the
narcissus or
holly. December's
birthstones are
turquoise,
lapis lazuli,
zircon,
topaz (blue), or
tanzanite. It is
Seasonal Depression Awareness Month. December 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.
Events in December
★
Hanukkah
★
World AIDS Day (
December 1)
★
Sinterklaas in
The Netherlands (
December 5)
★
Independence Day in
Finland (
December 6)
★
Pearl Harbor Day in the
United States (
December 7)
★ Día de la Madre en Panamá, Mother's day in Panama. (
December 8)
★
Human Rights Day (
December 10)
★ Día de la Virgen de Guadalupe, or Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe, in Mexico (
December 12)
★
Independence Day (
Jamhuri Day) in
Kenya (
December 12)
★
Saint Lucy (
December 13)
★
Zamenhof Day (
December 15)
★ The
solstice called the
winter solstice in the northern hemisphere and the
summer solstice in the southern hemisphere occurs on dates varying from
20 December to
December 22 (in UTC).
★ In the pagan wheel of the year the summer solstice is the time of
Litha and the winter
solstice is that of
Yule.
★ Fictional holiday,
Festivus (
December 23)
★
Christmas Eve (
December 24)
★
Christmas (
December 25)
★
Boxing Day (
December 26)
★
Kwanzaa (
December 26 to
January 1)
★
Philippines -
Rizal Day (
December 30)
★
New Year's Eve (
December 31)
★
December Starts (
December 1)
Famous People Who Died In December
★
Darrell Lance Abbott
★
Thomas Becket
★
James Brown
★
Walt Disney
★
Gerald Ford
★
John Lennon
★
Jerry Orbach
★
Augusto Pinochet
★
John Spencer
★
Vlad III the Impaler
★
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
★
Frank Zappa
★
Joe Strummer
★
Jose P. Rizal Philippine National Hero
★
Dean Martin
★
Albus Dumbeldore
Other names
★ In
Albanian, December is called ''Dhjetor''
★ In the
Anishinaabe language, December is known as ''Manidoo-giizisoons'', meaning "little spirit-moon".
★ In
Asturian, December is called ''Avientu''
★ In
Finnish, December is called ''joulukuu'', meaning "month of Christmas", since about the 18th century. Earlier it was called ''talvikuu'', meaning "month of winter".
★ In
Georgian, December is called ''დეკემბერი''.
★ In
Irish, December is called ''Mí na Nollaig'', meaning "month of Christmas".
★ In
the old Japanese calendar, the month is called ''Shiwasu'' meaning "priests run"; it is named so because priests are busy making end of the year prayers and blessings.
★ In
Turkish, December is known as ''Aralık''.
★ In
Xhosa, December is known as ''ngeyomNga'', meaning "month of the mimosa thorn tree".
See also
★
Historical anniversaries
★
Undecimber