May: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

This article is about the month of May. For other uses, see May (disambiguation).

May is the fifth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 31 days. It may have been named for the Roman goddess Maia or more likely for the Roman goddess of fertility, Bona Dea, whose festival was held in May.

In Japan, there is the so-called May sickness, a kind of sickness where new students or workers start to be tired of their new schoolwork or jobs. It is due to a Japanese custom that all schoolyears and fiscal years start on April 1st.

Events in May

• In many countries, May Day is May 1. This is celebrated as Labor Day in many countries.
• In the Irish calendar, May 1 is Beltane (Bealtaine) -the first day of Summer and a public holiday is held on the first Monday in May.
• In the United Kingdom, May Day is May 1, but a public holiday is held on the first Monday in May.
• In Western Europe May 8 is day of victory in WWII. In Eastern Europe it is celebrated in May 9.
• In Europe May 9 is day of Europe
• In the US, Canada and Australia, Mother's Day is the second Sunday in May.
• In Canada, Victoria Day is observed on the Monday on or before May 24. In Quebec, it is known as Patriotes Day (Journée nationale des patriotes).
• In the US, Memorial Day, a public holiday, is on May 31, but observed on the last Monday in May.

• May's flower is the hawthorn.
• May's birthstone is the emerald.