October Literary Birthdays 2021

Have you ever wondered why October isn’t the eighth month of the year given it’s “octo” prefix? Back in 750 BCE, September and October, named after the numbers seven and eight, were the seventh and eighth months in the ancient Roman calendar, created by Romulus. The Roman year began with March, or Martius, and ended in December, followed by sixty days of nameless winter.  In 153 BCE, the Roman Senate solved the problem of the unnamed days by inserting January and February into the beginning of the calendar, pushing  October to the tenth month in the yearly rotation.  The month famously culminates with Halloween but October is rich in many other celebrations and historic events; click here to learn more about them. Another remarkable fact about the tenth month is the large number of literary lights who were born in this 31 day period. Say happy birthday by clicking on the book cover below to be taken to the catalog link.