page_title: May
section_title: May symbols
hierarchical_section_title: May / May symbols
caption_attribution_description: This superb 75.47carat Colombian emerald was once the property of Abdul Hamid II, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (1876-1909), who wore it on his belt buckle. Tiffany &amp; Co. acquired the emerald in 1911 and initially set it into a tiara. In 1950, it was mounted in its current brooch setting. Mrs. Janet Annenberg Hooker purchased the brooch from Tiffany in 1955, and in 1977 she donated it to the Smithsonian Institution. The Hooker Emerald is a beveled square-cut gem that exhibits exceptional color and clarity for an emerald of its size. In its platinum setting it is surrounded by 109 round and 20 baguette cut diamonds, totaling approximately 13 carats. www.mnh.si.edu/earth/text/dynamicearth/6_0_0_GeoGallery/g...
context_page_description: May is the fifth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and the third of seven months to have a length of 31 days.
  May is a month of spring in the Northern Hemisphere and autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. Therefore, May in the Southern Hemisphere is the seasonal equivalent of November in the Northern Hemisphere and vice versa. Late May typically marks the start of the summer vacation season in the United States and Canada that ends on Labor Day, the first Monday of September. No month starts or ends on the same day of the week as May in any year. This month is the only month with these two properties. May however, starts and ends on the same day of the week as January of the following year. Also, in common years, May begins and ends on the same day of the week as August of the previous year, and, in leap years, it begins on the same day as February, March, and November of the previous year.
  May was named for the Greek Goddess Maia, who was identified with the Roman era goddess of fertility, Bona Dea, whose festival was held in May.
context_section_description: May's birthstone is the emerald which is emblematic of love and success.
  The May birth flowers are the Lily of the Valley and the Crataegus monogyna.  Both are native throughout the cool temperate Northern Hemisphere in Asia, Europe, and in the southern Appalachian Mountains in the United States, but have been naturalized throughout the temperate climatic world.
  The "Mayflower" Epigaea repens is a North American harbinger of May, and the floral emblem of both Nova Scotia and Massachusetts. Its native range extends from Newfoundland south to Florida, west to Kentucky in the southern range, and to Northwest Territories in the north.
  The zodiac signs for the month of May are Taurus (until May 19) and Gemini (May 20 onwards).
caption: Emerald brooch
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS 30D", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "ACD Systems Digital Imaging", "Image DateTime": "2010:08:21 10:53:37", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "218", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "4846", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "4289", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/60", "EXIF FNumber": "4", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "400", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2010:08:06 07:22:15", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2010:08:06 07:22:15", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "193557/32768", "EXIF ApertureValue": "4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash fired, auto mode, red-eye reduction mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "70", "EXIF SubSecTime": "979", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1536", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2048", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "4758", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "233600/59", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "233600/59", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard"}