February 30 facts for kids
The February 30 or 30 February is a date that doesn't exist in our modern Gregorian calendar or the older Julian calendar. The month of February usually has 28 days. In a leap year, it has 29 days.
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Real Life February 30
Even though it's not on our calendars today, February 30 has actually been a real date in a few different calendars throughout history.
Early Julian Calendar's February
A long time ago, a scholar named Johannes de Sacrobosco wrote that from 45 BC to 8 BC, February had 30 days in a leap year. However, this idea is probably a mistake. The Roman Emperor Augustus later added a day to the month of August. This change made February shorter, giving it 28 or 29 days.
Sweden's Calendar Change
In the year 1700, Sweden tried to switch from the old Julian calendar to the newer Gregorian calendar. Their plan was to skip all leap days starting from 1700. This would slowly bring their calendar in line with the rest of Europe.
However, they made a mistake! They accidentally had leap days in 1704 and 1708. To fix this and get back on track with the Julian calendar, Sweden added two extra leap days in February 1712. This meant that February 1712 had 30 days. Sweden finally switched to the Gregorian calendar in 1753 by removing 11 days from February.
The Soviet Calendar Experiment
Some historical records suggest that from 1929 to 1940, the Soviet Union used a special calendar. This calendar had 5 or 6 weeks in each month. Every month had exactly 30 days. The other five days of the year were holidays. These holidays were spread out and not part of any specific month. This calendar was similar to the French Republican Calendar used in France long ago.
February 30 in Fiction
The idea of February 30 also appears in many fictional stories and worlds.
Middle-earth's Calendar
In J. R. R. Tolkien's famous stories about Middle-earth, the Hobbits have their own calendar. It is called the Shire Reckoning. This calendar has 12 months and a total of 360 days. One of their months, which they call Solmath, is shown as having 30 days. In the books, Solmath is actually the month that matches our February.
Ray Bradbury's "Last Night of the World"
The date February 30, 1951, is important in a short story by Ray Bradbury. The story is called "Last Night of the World." In this tale, February 30, 1951, is the very last night of the world.
Images for kids
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Swedish calendar for February 1712
See also
In Spanish: 30 de febrero para niños
