June - WikiHQ

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thumb|The Roman goddess [[Juno (mythology)|Juno, after whom the month is named]]

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: ). 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

thumb|Illustration for the month of June, based on the [[Calendar of Filocalus (AD 354)]]

thumb |In recent decades, the number of warm temperature records in June has outpaced cold temperature records over a growing portion of Earth's surface.

thumb |Chart shows changes in global average temperature annually in June of each year

June originates from the month of Iunius (also called ) 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 ("April"), (later renamed "August"), , and . It is not known when the Romans reset the course of the year so that ("January") and ("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

thumb|left|The celebration of [[Midsummer (the June solstice) in Norway with a bonfire]]

In the Northern Hemisphere, June marks the commencement of summer, while in the Southern Hemisphere, it is the start of winter. In the Northern Hemisphere, the beginning of the traditional astronomical summer is 21 June, while meteorological summer commences on 1 June. In the Southern Hemisphere, astronomical winter starts on 21 June while meteorological winter begins on 1 June.

The June solstice—known as the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere and winter solstice in the Southern Hemisphere—occurs for one-day between 20–22 June (most often on 21 June), marking the longest day of the year in terms of daylight hours in the Northern Hemisphere and the shortest day in the Southern Hemisphere. In places north of the Arctic Circle, this is when the midnight sun occurs for the longest period, during which the Sun remains visible even at midnight.

In astronomy, certain meteor showers occur annually during this month. The Arietids—among the most intense daylight meteor showers of the year—last from 22 May until 2 July, peaking in intensity on 8 June; the Beta Taurids take place between 5 June and 18 July, peaking on 28 June; and the June Bootids commence between 22 June and 2 July, peaking on 27 June. The full moon that occurs in June is most commonly known as the strawberry moon because it coincides with the strawberry-picking season; other names for it include the rose moon, honey moon and the poetic midsummer moon.

Climate

thumb|Summer thunderstorm in the Philippines during [[monsoon season, 3 June 2023]]

thumb|Rice being harvested in [[Igunga, Tabora Region, Tanzania on 10 June 2016