Calendar for December 2020

Phase of the Moon:

December 7	December 14	December 21	December 29
3rd Quarter	New Moon	1st Quarter	Full Moon

Holidays and Observances in U.S.:

• 24: Christmas Eve
• 25: Christmas Day
• 31: New Year’s Eve

Holidays and Festivals around the World:

• Pearl Harbor Day
• Hanukkah
• Christmas
• Boxing Day
• Kwanzaa
• Read a New Book Month
• Human Rights Month
• Calendar Awareness Month
• National Handwashing Awareness Week
• National Fruit Cake Month

Fun Facts about December:

• It is the first month of winter and the last month of the year.

National Cookie Day is December 4th. Other snacks celebrated this month include pie, cotton candy, chocolate brownies (mmm!), cocoa, and cupcakes.

• December often marks the beginning of rain, snow, and cold weather.
• In the United States the month is associated with Christmas. There are Christmas decorations, sales, musicals, and parties. Many people spend their time Christmas shopping.
• A lot of people have days off around Christmas and before New Year’s Eve.
• December in the Northern Hemisphere is similar to June in the Southern Hemisphere.
• The first day of Winter is on either December 21 or 22. This is the shortest day of the year and the longest night. It is called the Winter or Southern solstice in the Northern Hemisphere.

History of December:

December was originally the tenth month of the year in the Roman calendar. It gets its name from the Latin word “decem” which means tenth. However, when the Romans added January and February to the calendar, it became the twelfth month. They still kept the name, though.

December in Other Languages

• Danish: december
• French: décembre
• Italian: dicembre
• Latin: December
• Spanish: diciembre
• Japanese: 十二月 (junigatsu)
• Chinese (Mandarin): shí’èryuè