August
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| The American Girl, August 1935 |
August is the eighth month of the year. Originally called Sextillis, as it was the sixth month of the original Roman calendar, it wasn't until 8 BC that it became the eighth month and was renamed after Augustus. It was a month of many festivals, like Tiberinalia, which honored the god "Father Tiber" or Tiberius, and celebrated agricultural bounty, or Nemoralia, the "festival of torches", which celebrated the goddess Diana Nemorensis or Diana of Nemi, "Diana of the woods". This festival was later adapted into The Feast of Assumption. During August there are several meteor showers that are visible, like the Kappa Cygnids, and the Southern Delta Aquariids, named after the brightest star, Delta Aquarii in the constellation Aquarius.
The birthstones of August are peridot and sardonyx, a type of red onyx. Flowers are the gladiolus, also known as the "sword lily", and the poppy. Zodiac signs are Leo the lion, and the virgin Virgo, based on a maiden known as Astraea, who in Greek mythology was the last immortal to leave earth when the other gods fled to Olympus.
August in other languages: Agosto (Spanish), Augustus (Dutch), Elokuu (Finnish), Agasata (Punjabi)
August as a name: August, Augusta/Augustus, Augustine, Auguste, Avgust/Avgusta
Flowers: Poppy, Amapola (poppy in Spanish), Unikko (poppy in Finnish) Stellatus (a type of gladiolus), Priscilla (a gladiolus hybrid)
Gems: Peridot, Olivine (peridot is a type of Olivine)
Zodiac: Leo, Ari ("Lion"), Ariel ("Lion of God"), Lev ("Lion"), Leonidas, Leontina ("Lion"); Dido (Possibly "virgin"), Parthenia ("Maiden, virgin"), Virginia (Meaning unknown, but historically associated with virgo), Astraea/Astraia/Astra
Eighth: Octavius/Octavia/Octavian/Octave ("Eighth")
Other: Diana, Delta, Nemi
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