May
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- This article is about the month of May. For other uses, see May (disambiguation).
May is the Fifth Month of the Year in the Gregorian calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days.
May begins (astrologically) with the sun in the sign of Taurus and ends in the sign of Gemini. Astronomically speaking, the sun begins in the constellation of Aries and ends in the constellation of Taurus.
The month may have been named for the Greek goddess Maia, who was identified with the Roman Goddess of fertility, Bona Dea, whose festival was held in May.
In old Japanese calendar, the month is called Satsuki (皐月). It is also a common name for females. In Japan, there is the so-called May sickness, a kind of sickness where new students or workers start to be tired of their new schoolwork or jobs. It is due to a Japanese custom that all schoolyears and fiscal years start on April 1st.
In Finnish, the month is called toukokuu, meaning "month of sowing". In Slovene, it is called veliki traven, which means the month of high grass.
Events in May
- In the pagan Wheel of the Year May begins on Bealtaine in the northern hemisphere and Samhain in the southern hemisphere.
- In the Irish calendar May 1 is Beltane (Bealtaine), the first day of Summer, and a public holiday is held on the first Monday in May.
- In many countries, May Day is May 1. This is celebrated as Labor Day in many countries.
- In the United Kingdom, May Day is May 1, but a public holiday is held on the first Monday in May.
- Eastern Christianity celebrates Easter on a Sunday between April 4 and May 8.
- In Western Europe May 8 is VE Day. In Eastern Europe it is celebrated in May 9.
- In the European Union May 9 is Europe Day
- In Kentucky, United States, the Kentucky Derby is held on the first Saturday in May.
- In the US, Canada, Brazil and Australia, Mother's Day is the second Sunday in May.
- In Canada, Victoria Day is observed on the Monday on or before May 24. In Quebec, it is known as Patriots' Day (Journée nationale des patriotes).
- In the US, Memorial Day, a public holiday, is on May 31, but observed on the last Monday in May.
- In Argentina, the May Revolution (or Revolución de Mayo), a national holiday, is on May 25.
- No Pants Day is celebrated the first Friday in May.
- World Fair Trade Day is celebrated on the second Saturday in May.
- On 12 May, International Nurses Day is celebrated.
- Towel Day is celebrated in May in tribute to Douglas Adams, author of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
- In the American film industry, the first week of May-- that is, between the 2th and the 8th-- marks the beginning of the summer movie season.
- On the full moon of May, Vesak is celebrated in many southeast Asian countries, It comemorates the birth, enlightenment, and death of Siddhartha Gautama.
Trivia
- Within any calendar year, no other month begins on the same day of the week as May.
- May's Flower is the lily of the valley.
- May's birthstone is the Emerald.
- No President of the United States has ever died in May, and May is the only month with this property.