Did you know this about December?

So as today is the 1st December, it is probably appropriate to include some fun facts about December which probably could go down as one of the most confusing months. In the Roman calendar (which preceded the Julian calendar it was the tenth month and in fact only had thirty days. Unfortunately, those naming months rather ran out of steam after the first six, which are named after Gods & Goddesses (January to June) and named the last four purely as a number (September to December). Then along came Julius Caesar and the Julian Calendar and he added two months named for himself and his father (July and August).

That is not the end of the confusion, one of the names for Father Christmas is Santa Claus this derives from St Nicholas, a Bishop in the early centuries who threw bags of gold to house doors of poor families to stop their daughters be sold into servitude. Hands up those who thought he was celebrated on December 25th, nope he is celebrated on the 6th December.

We must also acknowledge that on December 5th in 1901 there was a birth in America that has influenced many children throughout the world and created a media corporation that is truly massive – that man was Walt Disney. By the time he was 27 Mickey Mouse was on our screens and when he was 54, the first Walt Disney theme park was opened at Anaheim California.

Staying with the Americans you may have thought that so close after the eating of Thanksgiving and having Christmas at the end of the month they might take it easy – nope! December in America is both National Egg Nog Month and National Fruit Cake Month, in addition to that December 8th is National Brownie Day, and December 15th National Cup Cake Day. Do they diet in January – let’s wait and see!