I need to know why the first month of the year was named January I looked online and i t doesnot state why the first month of the year was NAMED January
http://www.answers.com/topic/janus
To understand why the first month of the year was named January, we need to delve into the history of the Roman calendar. The ancient Roman calendar consisted of ten months, starting with March and ending with December. This calendar was based on a lunar cycle, but it didn't align well with the solar year, leading to inaccuracies.
In 713 BCE, King Numa Pompilius, the second king of Rome, added two more months to the Roman calendar, January and February, to account for the 61-day period between December and March. Numa Pompilius named the newly added months after Janus and Februus, respectively.
Janus was a Roman god of beginnings, transitions, and doorways, often depicted with two faces looking in opposite directions. As the god of transitions, it was fitting to name the first month after him. Janus represents crossing the threshold from the old year to the new year, looking back at the past year and forward to the future.
So, in short, January was named after the Roman god Janus, who symbolized new beginnings and transitions.