May Birthday Facts and Trivia

The Greek goddess Maia gives this month its name; a nice change from all the boy-heavy months like March named after Mars, god of war! That's on the Greek side and the Romans have their "name claim" to monthly fame as well.Ovid, legendary Roman poet, credits May's name as being derivitive from "maiores," which loosely translates to "elders" in Latin. Given all the ancient festivals in May celebrating spring, youth, fertility, and similar blossomings, it's all Greek to me!

May Birthstone: Emerald

• The gorgeous green Emerald is May's birthstone. Emerald gets its name from the French "esmeraude" and the Greek root "smaragdos," which means "green gem." Although I've only listed the modern birthstone in my monthly birthday article series, many other birthstone categories exist some of which include ancient, planetary, and talismanic stones for the Zodiac sign. Emerald and Topaz are the only stones with records in ancient birthstone charts.
• The Emerald is a very fragile often containing many tiny cracks throughout the stone therefore most Emeralds are oiled, which is a process whereby the gem is actually immersed in oil to improve its appearance.

May Zodiac Signs: Taurus and Gemini

• The two Zodiac signs for the month of May are Taurus (April 19 to May 20) and Gemini (May 21 - June 20).
• A bull symbolizes the Earth sign Taurus. Patience, reliability, and determination are characteristics that those born under the sign are said to embody along with a jealous and greedy side to them as well.
• Gemini is the "twin" sign named after the constellation of Gemini. The dual personality, based on the twin idea, is prevalant in some of this sign's traits as those born under it are supposed to be charming and entertaining as well as manipulative and noncomittal.
• Zodiac signs can be cool symbols that you wear on a t-shirt, espcially effective for preferred treatment during your birthday month, or you may see the qualities described above in yourself. Bottom line: Some take it to heart; some wear it as art. It's your choice.

May Fun Facts:

• May Day, which occurs on May 1st, is quite possible the most juxtaposed holiday there is. For some, the day is observed as a celebration of workers and their achievements similar to Labor Day. For others, May Day marks the beginning of spring or summer with festivals such as as Ireland's Beltane and Germany's Walpurgis Night.
• Cinco de Mayo, which translates to May 5th, celebrates Mexico's victory over French Troops on this day in the 1862 Battle of Puebla. Mexico's official day of independence is actually September 16th.
• Mother's Day was proclaimed a holiday to be celebrated on the second Sunday in May honoring the everyday super woman (a.k.a. mom) in 1914 by President Woodrow Wilson.
• Memorial Day is observed on the last Monday in May commemorating the United States military men and woman who died in while serving their country.
• The annual Kentucky Derby, a famed horse race with its signature Mint Julep cocktail and ladies in hats the size of patio umbrellas, is held the first Saturday in May, and the Indianapolis 500, an annual car race, is held on the Sunday before Memorial Day.
• As is the case with all my monthly birthday articles, here's a Japanese fun fact! In Japan, April 29 to May 5 includes a line up of 4 different holidays and is known as "Golden Week," where workers can have up to 10 vacation days off!
• May is indeed a tasty time being National Salsa, National Hamburger, and National Barbecue Month!
• Based on the Western world's calanders, no other month begins on the same day of the week as May. Both May and June are the only two months that shares this fact!

Please feel to leave a May fact as a comment on this article!