"30 Days Hath September, April, June and November"

This makes me think of those 7 years of Latin class I took with Mr. Gerenser and Mr. Woodruff (wow, throwback). I'm not sure if it's the "hath" or the fact that I often find myself thinking that March has 30 days in it, and not 31. Technically I am correct; March does have 30 days in it, but it's not done there! One more.

Maybe it has to do with the Ides of March, March 15, the day Julius Caesar was murdered. Et tu, Brute. "The Ides of March (Latin: Idus Martiae) is the name of March 15 in the Roman calendar. The term ides was used for the 15th day of the months of March, May, July, and October, and the 13th day of the other months."

Perhaps the confusion comes from the notion that some months have a certain amount of days in them and others, well, have a different amount of days. I'm pretty sure the Ides of March is just one of those things that only people in academia care about, too. I literally haven't thought of that term since my senior year of high school. In any case, it's true, "30 Days hath September, April, June and November. All the rest have 31, save February — the shortest one."

Riddle me this if you can, how did the Romans decide which months would have which amount of days? The Ecce Romani textbooks might be able to help you out.