June

June is the sixth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars—the latter the most widely used calendar in the world. Its length is 30 days. June succeeds May and precedes July. This month marks the start of summer in the Northern Hemisphere and contains the summer solstice, which is the day with the most daylight hours. In the Southern Hemisphere, June is the start of winter and contains the winter solstice, the day with the fewest hours of daylight out of the year. In places north of the Arctic Circle, the June solstice is when the midnight sun occurs, during which the Sun remains visible even at midnight. The Atlantic hurricane season—when tropical or subtropical cyclones are most likely to form in the north Atlantic Ocean—begins on 1 June and lasts until 30 November. Several monsoons and subsequent wet seasons also commence in the Northern Hemisphere during this month. Multiple meteor showers occur annually in June, including the Arietids, which are among the most intense daylight meteor showers of the year; they last between 22 May and 2 July, peaking in intensity on 8 June. Numerous observances take place in June. Midsummer, the celebration of the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, is celebrated in several countries. In Catholicism, this month is dedicated to the devotion of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and known as the Month of the Sacred Heart. In the United States, June is dedicated to Pride Month, a month-long observance of the LGBTQ community. Father's Day, which honours fathers and fatherhood, occurs on the third Sunday in June in most countries.

Overview June is the sixth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars—the latter the most widely used calendar in the world. Containing 30 days, June succeeds May and precedes July. It is one of four months that have 30 days—alongside April, September and November—and is the second 30-day month of the year, following April, the fourth month of the year, and preceding September—the ninth month of the year. June is in the second quarter (Q2) of a calendar year, alongside April and May, and the sixth and final month in the first half of the year (January–June). Under the ISO week date system, June incidentally begins in either the 22nd or 23rd week of the year. During each calendar year, no other month starts on the same day of the week as June. The Julian calendar—which also has June and is still used as a ceremonial religious calendar by some of the Eastern Orthodox Church and Oriental Orthodoxy—is 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar. Thus, in this calendar, 1 June begins on 14 June. It will be 14 days behind in 2100. June is abbreviated as Jun, and may be spelled with or without a concluding period (full stop).

Etymology June is ultimately derived from the Latin month of Iunius, named after the ancient Roman goddess Juno (Latin: Iūnō). The present English spelling was influenced by the Anglo-Norman join, junye and junie. It was also written in Middle English as Iun and Juin, while the spelling variant Iune was in use until the 17th century. It displaced the Old English name for June, ærra liþa.

History

June originates from the month of Iunius (also called mensis Iunius lit. 'month of June') in the original Roman calendar used during the Roman Republic. The origin of this calendar is obscure. Iunius was originally the fourth month of the year, and had 29 days alongside Aprilis ("April"), Sextilis (later renamed Augustus "August"), September, November and December. It is not known when the Romans reset the course of the year so that Ianuarius ("January") and Februarius ("February"), originally the 11th and 12th months respectively, came first—thus moving Iunius to the sixth month of the year—but later Roman scholars generally dated this to 153 BC. In ancient Rome, the period from mid-May through mid-June may have been considered inauspicious for marriages. The Roman poet Ovid claimed to have consulted the flaminica Dialis, the high priestess of the god Jupiter, about setting a date for his daughter's wedding, but was advised to wait until after 15 June. The Greek philosopher and writer Plutarch, however, implied that the entire month of June was more favorable for weddings than May. In 46 BC, Julius Caesar reformed the calendar, which thus became known as the Julian calendar after himself. This reform fixed the calendar to 365 days with a leap year every fourth year, and made June 30 days long; however, this reform resulted in the average year of the Julian calendar being 365.25 days long, slightly more than the actual solar year of 365.2422 days (the current value, which varies). In AD 65, June was renamed as Germanicus in honour of the Roman emperor Nero. As recalled by the Roman historian Tacitus in his Annals, the Roman senator Cornelius Orfitus, who made the proposal, claimed that the name Junius had become inauspicious due to the executions of Lucius Junius Silanus Torquatus and Decimus Junius Silanus Torquatus in AD 49 and AD 64, respectively. The names did not survive and were likely erased when Nero was subjected to damnatio memoriae. In AD 184, Roman Emperor Commodus briefly renamed all of the months after a name in his full title; June became Aelius. However, this decision was repealed after his death in AD 192. In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII promulgated a revised calendar—the Gregorian calendar—that reduced the average length of the calendar year from 365.25 days to 365.2425, correcting the Julian calendar's drift against the solar year.

Climate, daylight and astronomy

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