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August
Eighth month in the Julian and Gregorian calendars

August, the eighth month in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars, has 31 days and is summer in the Northern Hemisphere but winter in the Southern Hemisphere, where it corresponds to February. Originating as Sextilis in the ancient Roman calendar, it was renamed to honor Emperor Augustus in 8 BC. August hosts notable meteor showers like the Perseids and the Kappa Cygnids, and is associated with the harvest festival Beñesmen among the Guanches of Tenerife. Historically, its length was fixed at 31 days by Julius Caesar during the reform of the Julian calendar in 46 BC.

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Symbols

August's birthstones are the peridot, sardonyx, and spinel.9 Its birth flower is the gladiolus or poppy, meaning beauty, strength of character, love, marriage and family.10 The Western zodiac signs are Leo (until August 22) and Virgo (from August 23 onward).1112

Observances

This list does not necessarily imply official status or general observance.

Non-Gregorian: 2025 dates

(All Baha'i, Islamic, and Jewish observances begin at sundown before the listed date and end at sundown on the date in question unless otherwise noted.)

Month-long

  • Women's Month (South Africa)
  • American Adventures Month (celebrates vacationing in the Americas)13
  • Children's Eye Health and Safety Month14
  • Digestive Tract Paralysis (DTP) Month15
  • Get Ready for Kindergarten Month16
  • Happiness Happens Month
  • Month of Philippine Languages or Buwan ng Wika (Philippines)17
  • Neurosurgery Outreach Month18
  • Psoriasis Awareness Month19
  • Spinal Muscular Atrophy Awareness Month20
  • What Will Be Your Legacy Month

United States month-long

  • National Black Business Month21
  • National Children's Vision and Learning Month22
  • National Immunization Awareness Month23
  • National Princess Peach Month24
  • National Water Quality Month25
  • National Win with Civility Month26
Food months in the United States

Moveable Gregorian

Second to last Sunday in July and the following two weeks

1st Saturday

1st Sunday

First full week of August

  • National Farmer's Market Week (United States)

1st Monday

1st Tuesday

1st Friday

2nd Saturday

Sunday on or closest to August 9

2nd Sunday

2nd Monday

2nd Tuesday

3rd Saturday

3rd Sunday

3rd Monday

3rd Friday

Last Thursday

Last Sunday

Last Monday

Fixed Gregorian

References

  1. "August | month | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved December 16, 2023. https://www.britannica.com/topic/August-month ↩

  2. Supplicia canum was held on August 3, Lychnapsia on August 12, Nemoralia was held from August 13–15 (or on the full moon of August), Tiberinalia and Portumnalia on August 17, Consuales Ludi on August 18, Vinalia rustica on August 19, Vulcanalia on August 23, Opiconsivia on August 25, and Volturnalia on August 27. These dates do not correspond to the modern Gregorian calendar. /wiki/Supplicia_canum ↩

  3. Abréu Galindo, Juan de (1848) [1632]. Historia de la conquista de las siete islas de Gran Canaria. Santa Cruz de Tenerife: Imprenta, Litografía y Librería Isleña. Archived from the original on December 12, 2018. Retrieved October 5, 2017. /w/index.php?title=Juan_de_Abr%C3%A9u_Galindo&action=edit&redlink=1 ↩

  4. Torriani, Leonardo (1959) [1590]. Descripción e historia del reino de las Islas Canarias: antes Afortunadas, con el parecer de sus fortificaciones. Santa Cruz de Tenerife: Goya Ediciones. Archived from the original on November 23, 2018. Retrieved October 5, 2017. /w/index.php?title=Leonardo_Torriani&action=edit&redlink=1 ↩

  5. "Keeping Time: Months and the Modern Calendar". Live Science. May 16, 2014. https://www.livescience.com/45650-calendar-history.html ↩

  6. "Year of Julius Caesar, A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890), William Smith, LLD, William Wayte, G. E. Marindin, Ed". https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0063:id=calendarium-cn ↩

  7. Lamont, Roscoe (1919). "The Roman calendar and its reformation by Julius Caesar". Popular Astronomy. Vol. 27. pp. 583–595, esp. 585–587. Bibcode:1919PA.....27..579P. Sacrobosco's theory is discussed on pages 585–587. http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu//full/1919PA.....27..579P/0000583.000.html ↩

  8. Nothaft, C. Philipp E. (2018). Scandalous Error: Calendar Reform and Calendrical Astronomy in Medieval Europe. Oxford University Press. p. 122. doi:10.1093/oso/9780198799559.001.0001. ISBN 9780198799559. 9780198799559 ↩

  9. "Why the American Gem Society". American Gem Society. https://www.americangemsociety.org/en/august-birthstones ↩

  10. Birth months, flowers, and gemstones, shgresources.com https://archive.today/20120911093344/http://www.shgresources.com/gems/birthflowers/ ↩

  11. The Earth passes the junction of the signs at 15:44 UT/GMT August 22, 2020. It will pass again at 21:34 UT/GMT on August 22, 2021. ↩

  12. "Astrology Calendar". yourzodiacsign. Signs in UT/GMT for 1950–2030. https://www.yourzodiacsign.com/calendar/ ↩

  13. "American Adventures Month". Canton Public Library. August 2022. https://www.cantonpl.org/blogs/post/american-adventures-month/ ↩

  14. "Children's Eye Health and Safety Month". http://www.hap.org/health/topic/eyemonth.php ↩

  15. "Online Events". https://www.g-pact.org/gpact-in-action/public-relations/online-events ↩

  16. "August is Get Ready for Kindergarten Month!". Committee for Economic Development of The Conference Board. https://www.ced.org/blog/entry/august-is-get-ready-for-kindergarten-month ↩

  17. "Celebrating Filipino Language and Culture". Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved 2015-07-29. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304041137/https://www.remithome.com/newsletter-august-2012.html ↩

  18. "AANS". http://www.aans.org/Patient%20Information/Neurosurgery%20Outreach%20Month.aspx ↩

  19. "Psoriasis Awareness Month – Take Action, One Day at a Time – National Psoriasis Foundation". https://www.psoriasis.org/wellness ↩

  20. "Cure SMA – Home". http://curesma.org/ ↩

  21. "12th annual National Black Business Month". National Black Business Month. http://blackbusinessmonth.com/ ↩

  22. "August is Vision & Learning Month – College of Optometrists in Vision Development (COVD)". http://www.covd.org/?page=August_VL ↩

  23. "National Immunization Awareness Month – NIAM – CDC". https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/events/niam.html ↩

  24. "August Is Officially Princess Peach Month, According To Nintendo Of America". August 8, 2014. https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2014/08/august_is_officially_princess_peach_month_according_to_nintendo_of_america ↩

  25. "August is National Water Quality Month". GoodSpeaks. http://www.goodspeaks.org/event/august-is-national-water-quality-month ↩

  26. "MHprofessional.com". http://www.mhprofessional.com/?page=/mhp/categories/chases/content/special_months.html ↩

  27. "Food Days, Weeks, Months – August". UNL Food. University of Nebraska–Lincoln. http://food.unl.edu/web/fnh/august ↩

  28. "Food Days, Weeks, Months – August". UNL Food. University of Nebraska–Lincoln. http://food.unl.edu/web/fnh/august ↩

  29. "Food Days, Weeks, Months – August". UNL Food. University of Nebraska–Lincoln. http://food.unl.edu/web/fnh/august ↩

  30. Bober, Mike. Celebrate National Goat Cheese Month with Local Favorites, dcfoodies.com http://www.dcfoodies.com/2008/08/celebrate-natio.html ↩

  31. "Why Is National Panini Month In August?". Food Republic. August 20, 2012. http://www.foodrepublic.com/2012/08/20/why-is-national-panini-month-in-august/ ↩

  32. "Food Days, Weeks, Months – August". UNL Food. University of Nebraska–Lincoln. http://food.unl.edu/web/fnh/august ↩

  33. "Food Days, Weeks, Months – August". UNL Food. University of Nebraska–Lincoln. http://food.unl.edu/web/fnh/august ↩

  34. "National Science Week 2020". https://www.scienceweek.net.au/ ↩