I believe the rhyme goes: “Thirty days has September, April, June, and November. All the rest have thirty-one, except” … in February alone. And that has 28 days clear, and 29 days each leap year!

I was raised in the U.K. and the rhyme that we learned went as follows:

30 days hath September, April, June and November. All the rest have 31, excepting February all alone has 28 days clear and 29 in each leap year.

dear sir/madam this is how the ending goes which i learned in school as a child in Jamaica
thirty days has September, April, June, and November. All the rest have thirty-one, except February alone which has 28 dys and 29 in each leap year

I learned it as, “Thirty days hath September, April, June, and November./ All the rest have thirty-one, except February alone/ Which has twenty-eight days clear/ And twenty-nine each leap year.” … Like this year.
Anyway, that refutes the previously made point, that no one says hath anymore (and have they forgotten all of the actors in various works by Shakespeare?).
Other than all that, interesting read.

This made me think of Frère Jacques. In French it begins with brother John, brother John, but in English we start with Are you sleeping &c. That is not a mnemonic, but it is interesting how the tune plays a role in the word choice. Did we still use the Julian calendar in 1425? Do you think that there was a similar rhyme when we used the Julian calendar (there were I believe only ten months)?

I remember a different way that i remembered the months. i remembered how many days there are in each month because I’m smart like that. but the way i remembered the months were just singing “January..Febuary.. March.. and April, May, June & July. August.. September… October… November… December, these are the months of the year… these are the months of the year” it went something like that. LOL

” … which has twenty-eight days clear, and twenty-nine each leap year.” Just in case you were interested.

First comment!

That is awesome. My cousin is learning it with her class. They sound so adorable!!!!

Umm… nice to know.

what is this rhyme I have never heard of it??

As a student of geology, we had to find a way of learning the sequence of geological periods (Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous, Permian, Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous, Tertiary, Quaternary). This was done by saying “Can old sods drink cast port? They can’t. They quit.” The 3 sentences also usefully separated the three main eras (Palaeozoic, Mesozoic, Cainozoic).

Correction… “They just can’t”.

I usually make mnemonics when is was studying. like this: sine is to year, cosine is xer, tangent is yex! ( i have a tone on this one while singing. Obviously, I couldn’t sing it in here). Well, my mnemonics means this: sine=yr, cosine=xr, tangent=yx. Then, I have good scores is trigonometry class!

Well, the ABC song is made in such a way that it rhymes…G, P, V, and Z all rhyme and are at the ends of the lines.

NEVER NEW

Thirty days has September, April, June, and November.
All the rest have thirty-one,
Except for February alone,
And that has twenty-eight days clear,
And twenty-nine in each leap-year.
That’s how it ends

That is actually really cool.

We should just get a new callender that has a really simple way to remember and they should all start on the same day like sunday that way people still get to freak out about friday the 13th. Or we could use the full moon as a guide and every 12 cycles could be a new year, the months would be named Ira, Moro, Thuna, IMT, Ock, hanu, Eyroc, Tanu,Anu, Rom, Unaht,and Kcori. People wouldn’t need a rhyme

I count my knuckles to remember the days of the months, starting on that of the index finger – if it’s on a knuckle it’s 31, if it’s in the hollow it’s 30, 29, or 28. There’s also ROY G BIV for the colours of the rainbow and Father Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle/Battle Ends And Down Goes Father Charles for the order of sharps and flats.

Nursery rhymes are quite useful for us to learn something when we were children.

Huh. I guess you learn a knew thing everyday. I especially liked the whole Greek goddess of memory thing; who would’ve known that the word “mnemonics” was derived from that?

This man just wanted to get rid of the rhyme. Mathematical people always ruin everything!

Nice..

How recently did the Welsh scholar discover it? The “Welsh scholar” article is dated Jan 16th 2012, but I’ve known the “hath” version since I was eleven or so:

Thirty days hath November, April, June and September.
Of twenty eight is but one,
And all the rest are thirty and one!

I think I learned it from a Middle English lyric book my grandparents used to have… It’s very neat a poem like that is still common 600 years later!

We were taught a slightly different and shorter/easier version in my hometown back in the 70s. And still today, when my kids were in Kindergarten, they were taught the same way through the public school system:

30 days has September, April, June and November.
All the rest have 31,
Except for February, it has 28.

I like how this is dictionary/thesaurus.com, yet in the picture that they used to represent this article, they misspelled February… Just sayin’.

English, Primary shcool in the seventies – and also Irish parentage – my learned version ends a little differentlyly and goes something like this: Thirty days hath September, April June and November. All the rest have thrity one except February which has twenty eight, although every one in four February has one day more.

Here in our country, it goes like this:

30 days has September,
April, June, and November.
All the rest have 31,
except February which has 28.

Leap year comes one year in four,
and brings to February one day more.

In Italy we say:
trenta giorni ha novembre con aprile,giugno e settembre,di 28 ce n’è uno.tutti gli altri ne hanno trentuno

NICE

A mnemonic i knew when young of the originally 9 planets we had:
my very eyes may just see under nine planets

It’s amazing (and annoying) how many people do NOT read the comments of others before them. Check how many nunus repeated the same story … sigh

I love mnemonics! My 6th grade teacher taught us ones for remembering the kinds of adverbs and adjectives. I still remember them over 20 years later!

Wonder Woman Hauls Heavy Trucks: Where, When, How often, To what extent
OK MS. Do Not Pass Papers: which One, what Kind, how Many, what Size, Determinative, Numerative, Proper, Possessive

Oddly enough, I learned the ending of the poem this way:

…except February, which has four and twenty-four,
’til Leap Year gives it one day more.

(favoring rhyme over simplicity!) Oh, and we learned “hath,” as well. Being a Bible-reading kid, it didn’t seem too out of place.

I grew up with ‘hath’ in it, but a different ending from everyone else, apparently:

Thirty days hath September,
April, June, and November.
All the rest have thirty-one,
save February, and it alone
has twenty-eight, and one more
which we add one year in four.

I learned a slightly different version of the end of the rhyme:
“…All the rest have 31
Except February alone
Which has 28 in time,
and, in leap year, 29.”

Thirty days hath September,
April, June, and November
All the rest I can’t remember

But that doesn’t worry me at all
‘Cause there’s a calendar on the wall

here in the philippines in my elementary years i learned it this way…. 30days has sept, april, june and nov, all the rest have 31 except feb which alone 28, leap year comes at 4 and give feb one day more..!!!!!!!
fantastic..right!!!!

The way I learned it, the last two lines were:

For it twenty eight days is fine
And in leap year twenty nine.

Surprised no one else seems to have heard it that way.

My version was:
30 days has September, April, June & November
All the rest have 31
February has 28, BUt
Once in 4
Gives to February one day more

The last line in this article asked for other mnemonic devices besides the Months Rhyme, so I’m going to change the currently hackneyed subject and return to the writer’s request:

I remember about a million years ago, one of my weekly spelling words was “arithmetic” – and our 2nd grade teacher, Miss McNamara, gave us this mnemonic device. By reading across the initials of each word, we could remember how to spell it correctly:

A rat in the house might eat the ice cream = Arithmetic

…and to this day, whenever I read or write that word, I think of her. She got married when I was in her class that year, and she changed her name. So…

If you’re still out there, how are you, Mrs. Lawlor?

I learned about the months by singing them with the tune to the macoraina. and yes you would have to do a dance to

I learned it as ‘hath’ and I grew up in small town America.

I like the poem – I’ve written it down for my son to learn and possible teach his class.

Did anyone else notice that, in the illustration at the beginning of this article, the second month of the year is named “Febuary”? Tsk. Tsk. Tsk.

febuary?

This is how I learned it in St.Kitts since I was eight and is the same today:
Thirty days have September, April ,June and November
All the rest have thirty-one days,except February alone
Which has twenty-eight days clear and twenty-nine in each leap year.

This was written at the back of the excercise book we wrote in.

My learned version was “…. February alone, which has just four and twenty-four, and leap year makes it one day more!”

A 1950s Chicago children’s TV show called “Here’s Geraldine” taught the months with a song that was similar to the old rhyme. But it ended up with “’cept that quite contrary February, which has 28, most of the time, but in leap year 29.”

Richard of York gave battle in vain… the colours of the rainbow, in order. Red, orange yellow green blue indigo and violet

Why is it called a leap year??

There were 26 comments preceding mine, and not one of them correctly quoted the rhyme. It is:

Thirty days hath September
April, June, and November
All the rest have thirty-one
Except February in fine
‘Til Leap Year gives it twenty-nine!

“Closed-circuit for “Me”: Yes, they were still using the Julian calendar in 1425. Great Britain and all her colonies (which WE were at that time) adopted the Gregorian calendar in October of 1752 — 24 years prior to the signing of our Declaration of Independence.

For “Anonymous”: The musical flats are BEADS (the letter S looks a lot like a G in script) — B-flat, E-flat, A-flat, D-flat, G-flat. If you get to six or seven flats, it’s easier to remember which notes are NOT flats! The sharps are easily remembered by this mnemonic: “Fried Chicken Good Dinner Always.” i.e., F, C, G, D, and A. (The same caveat applies to the sharps as to the flats — after the first five, it’s easier to remember which notes NOT to flat!)

In case you hadn’t figured it out, I AM indeed a musician. I play ‘cello in a number of other venues. (I play other instruments, but when folks know you can play ‘cello, they’re not interested in anything else.)

We would say:

“Thirty days has September, April, June and November.
All the rest have thirty-one except for February, which stands alone.”

My very eager mother just served us nine pies. Guess what this mnemonic helps us remember.

I used the word “other” too many times. I should have said that I play in a number of venues — and then that I play “other” instruments.

Another thing, “Anonymous”: most people — even musicians! — never figure out that the order of the sharps and the flats is exactly reversed, but your mnemonic makes it abundantly clear. (Nice job! Even though the second “Father Charles” — the “flats” — is in the wrong sequence.) I’m always glad to learn something new.

Who didn’t learn “Please excuse my dear aunt sally” for the order in which to do math problems: parenthesis, exponents, multiplication, division, addition, subtraction.

I also learned the days of the months the same way as Anonymous, with my knuckles, but my mom learned the poem and would say it to us. I never memorized it or use it because the order of the months has always seemed so obscure.

Here’s how we learned it in grammar school:

” …except February which has 28 in fine, and leap-year makes it 29″.

The one I remember ends like this: And when short February’s done, all the rest have 31.
At least it rhymes . This whole “except February alone” business doesn’t fit the cadence and doesn’t rhyme either. I don’t like it one bit!

Thirty days has September, April, June, and November. All the rest have thirty-one save February which alone has twenty-eight and one day more we give to it each year in four.

I make a fist and use the knuckles and the space between the knuckles of my hand to remember how many days each month has. Starting on the first knuckle (not using the thumb) for the first month, it is higher than the next one, so January has 31 days. The ‘valley’ between the first and second knuckle represents February, which has 28 or 29 days (depending on whether it is leap year). The next (second) knuckle stands for March, which has 31 days, and so on. When you get to the knuckle for the little finger, it represents July, which has 31 days. Then you start over on the knuckle for the first finger which represents August, which has 31 days. I think my grandmother taught me that.

*one year in four

I forgot to add that the ‘valley’ between each knuckle represents a month that has 30 days except for February.

Somehow I was never taught this rhyme. A method I learned for determining the days of the month used the knuckles (and the valleys between each) on my fist: all the high points (knuckles) are months with 31 days; all the low points (between each knuckle) are months with 30 days — except February, of course. Obviously, we do not have enough knuckles to accommodate all 12 months, so when you reach the last knuckle, you simply start over at the first, which nicely matches up with July/August, the two back-to-back months with 31 days.

“except for february which has four and twenty-four, and leap year gives it one day more” was the ending I learned.

My grandmother was British and we learned it as:

Thirty days hath September, April, June, and November.
All the rest have thirty-one,
Excepting February which has 28.
But leap year coming once in four,
February then has one day more.

Teachers – particulary Special Ed – why are you not incorporating more
mnemonics in your lesson plans. Certainly as educators, you
are aware that any information entering the brain using 2 or
more senses is absorbed at a higher rate. If someone is
reading (or writing) a mnemonic and saying it, the chance of
it moving to long term memory is increased dramatically.
Some of the best educators/instructors/lectors all use
mnemonics, acronyms & humor. Tune in to Sesame Street and
take note.

To remember the cranial nerves, the mnemonic goes:
“On old Olympus’ towering tops, a Finn and German brewed some hops”
with the initials naming the nerves, whose names I long ago forgot.

And the version I learned in school, with a tune, goes like this

All the rest have 31
Excepting February alone
Which hath 28 in fine
And each leap year 29

I still say “hath.”

30 days has Sept, April june and November, All the rest has 31, except the one with Washington

I learned it as:

Thirty days has September, April, June, and November.
All the rest have thiry-one except for February.
To which we twenty-eight assign, until leap year to
which is twenty-nine.

30 days have September, April, June and November. All the rest have 31, except February alone. A leap year comes once in 4 to give February one day more.
Maltese way I guess.

oh i like this artical so much its really logcial

I learned it a slightly different way:

Thirty days hath September,
April, June, and No Wonder,
But it doesn’t go good with peanut butter,
All except Grandma,
She rides a bicycle.

Does that have any relevance here?

One of several variations in French.

Trente jours ont novembre,
Avril, juin et septembre;
De vingt-huit est février;
Trente et un ont janvier
Et mars, et août et mai,
Décembre, octobre et juillet.

I never thought this rhyme was very useful, considering that one could easily replace the month names with others and it would still rhyme, but be completely wrong.

30 days hath September, April, June and November. All the rest have 31 except February which hath 28 until leap year gives it 29.

Thirty days has September, April, June and November. All the rest have 31, but February just for fun!

This is how I learned it in school:

Thirty days hath September, April June and November.
All the rest have 31, excepting February which alone as twenty-eight and then one more, every leap year come year four.

And I’m in grade11.

I, too was taught a slightly different version. I remember the teacher from that year very well! She was cool!
Her version went like this:

30 days hath September
April, June & November
All the rest have 31
Leap-year comes once in four
February has one day more

To help my 6th grade students remember the order of the planets in the solar system: My Very Educated Mother Just Showed Us Nine Planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto)

Order of colours in the rainbow: Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet)

I wholeheartedly agree with Vicki above; music, role-play and dance increase students’ ability to remember otherwise “boring” factoids or material.

30 days has September, April, June and November.
All the rest have 31,
save February alone.
which has 8 and one score,
but in leap year has one more.

This and ROYGBIV are the only mnemonics that ever did me a bit of good.

It was long ago/far away and learnt it from my husband to know and tell how many days in a month: 31 days or less (though February has its own system of taking two).

Just like Anonimous I was taught to go by my knuckle-way. Yes, starting from the index finger, the CREST, let’s name it, having 31 days, so other finger crests follow suite too of having 31 days. In between two fingers, that is the index and middle one (or between the middle and ring) VALLEY, they are of less, 30, 29 or 28. (The last two in the case of February having two versions; I liked and enjoyed Collete, Debbie, Dusty, Sue & Abi’s poem very much on this distinctive month).

The requirement is of other such ….
Well now… a couple of them perhaps and that are not rhyming, perhaps kind of mnemonics and useful:
Badmas (algebra);
Fanboys (grammar); and
Vibgyor (the rainbow colour).

30 Days in The Hole — Humble Pi — 1972. Oui?

You can hear this rhyme in Batman Arkham City, as Calendar Man keeps repeating it over and over again…

There s the one for remembering the planets in order of their distance from the sun:
“My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Neopolitan Pizza”.
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto.

I love Malloman’s comment. It’ll come handy in my stand-up routine.

While studying music in college, I created one for myself to remember the Greek modes:
“I’D Play Loud Music After Lunch”.
(Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aolian, Locrian)

In college, mnemonics are quite useful. You have so much to remember in such a short period of time.

Thirty days has September, April, June and November. All the rest have 31except February which has four and twenty-four and every leap year one day more.

I learned:
“30 days hath September,
April, June and November.
All the rest have 31
Except for February.
With 28 days clear, and 29 in each leap year.

When I was little, I even came up with a tune for it.

I just add the debatedlines:
Leap years come in four
Give February one day more

party party party that all it wasited

I learned the last bit as “All the rest have 31 save february which has 28-and that is fine, but in leap year it has 29″.

i learned about the that you jack love fight youtube lose you at home fight you at playgorund see that you are big chricken already here

I’ve read about the article of “the new calendar”, it’s interesting though but rediculous, imagine having the same date on the same day (ex: Dec. 25 is Sunday) then it would always be the same over and over again as the years pass. That I don’t want to happen having the same date of birthday on the same day again every year, of course if I was born on Monday, I don’t want to my yearly bithday to be in the same Monday for the rest of my life, it really is stupid..

hello these are awesome

I’m so glad someone mentioned Calendar Man in Arkham City, because that’s who I think of whenever I hear this. He cites it as: Thirty Days hath September, April, June, and November. All the rest have thirty-one, Except for February alone, which has twenty-eight rain or shine, but on a leap year, twenty-nine.