September
Summer has ended, the countdown to Christmas has started and before we know it, another round of New Year resolutions will be staring us in the face. But not to be too hasty, lets look at September from the perspective of being the 9th month of the year and three-quarters the way through.
First, we all had to learn how many days were in the month and September was at the top of the rhyme:
“Thirty days hath September,
April, June, and November,
all the rest have thirty-one.
Except February has twenty-eight,
but leap year coming one in four
February then has one day more.”
It’s a solid 30 days to enjoy the ending of Summer and the onset of Fall. Of course, if you are in the Southern Hemisphere, September brings about a different feeling as it is the end of Winter and the onset of Spring. Either way, it is a transitional month—a time to stop and a time to start. You don’t get that from every month and taking the time to dive in and experience all the opportunities it brings is magical.
Interestingly enough September kept its original name from the Roman Calendar, where “septem” means 7. The month was originally the 7thwhen the calendar began in March. Later,January and February were added when we changed from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar system. As a side note, September is the month with the most letters, using 9 to match its place in the year.
Labor Day is the most well known of holidays in the month, celebrated on the first Monday and paying tribute to the contributions and achievements of American workers.
Other September holidays include:
- Grandparents Day
- Patriot Day
- Constitution Day
- Rosh Hashanah
- Talk Like a Pirate Day
- National Hispanic Heritage Month (Sep 15 through Oct 15)
- National Potato Month
- National Chicken Month
- National Piano Month
- National Biscuit Month
- National Cheese Pizza Day
- National Drink-a-Beer Day
and for some….the start of College and National Football is also a holiday to be celebrated!
Here are a few nuggets of information about September.
- The birthstone for the month is the Sapphire.
- Flowers that honor the month are the morning glory, aster and forget-me-not.
- If you follow the signs of the Zodiac, September is Virgo from September 1 to September 22 and Libra from the 23rd to the 30th of September.
- There are more pop and classic songs with “September” in the title than any other month.
As far as history goes, September is filled with important days to mark:
- On September 16, 1620, the Mayflower ship departed from England, bound for America with 102 passengers and a small crew.
- President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on September 22 in 1862. This ended slavery in the territories held by the Confederacy.
- On September 26, 1960, the first-ever televised presidential debate occurred between presidential candidates John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon.
- President Gerald Ford gave an unconditional pardon to Richard M. Nixon on September 8,1974. This pardoned the former President for his role in the infamous “Watergate” scandal.
- Of course, September 11 is a somber and historical day when The worst terrorist attack in U.S. history occurred as four large passenger jets were hijacked then crashed, killing nearly 3,000 persons.
Finally, there are a plethora of famous people born in the month of September:
- Colonel Sanders of KFC fame
- Agathie Christie, best-selling novelist
- Greta Garbo, legendary actress and MI6 informant
- Michael Faraday who paved the way for our use of electricity today
- Victoria Woodhull, the first woman to run for President in 1872, even though she couldn’t legally vote
- Jim Henson, the genius behind the Muppets
- Shel Silverstein, who wrote the famous Johnny Cash single, A Boy Named Sue
There is never a dull moment in our transitional month of September. If only football started on the same day as national cheese pizza and national drink a beer day—what a memorable time that would be!
