May 2024: 31 days, five Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays
May 2024 was the fullest working month of the quarter: 31 days, 23 of them business days, opening on a Wednesday and closing on a Friday. The news ran darker than the arithmetic. Slovakia's prime minister was shot on Wednesday 15 May. Iran's president died in a helicopter crash on Sunday 19 May. A New York jury convicted a former American president on Thursday 30 May. Between the shocks, the sky put on auroras and Switzerland won Eurovision.
The arithmetic of a full month
Five Wednesdays, from Wednesday 1 May through Wednesday 29 May, with Thursdays and Fridays also at five. Three weekdays at full count made the fullest run of the quarter. There were 23 business days against eight weekend days, across ISO weeks 18 to 22.
The moon made five appointments. Last quarter fell on Wednesday 1 May; new moon came on Wednesday 8 May. First quarter arrived on Wednesday 15 May. The full moon rose on Thursday 23 May, and last quarter came round again on Thursday 30 May.
For planners, May 2024 offered the longest straight run of working days before the summer. Wednesdays were the hinge; whatever fell due midweek fell due five times. Week 22, which began on Monday 27 May, closed the month's books.
A month of political shocks
The facts, plainly. Robert Fico, Slovakia's prime minister, was shot and seriously wounded at Handlova on Wednesday 15 May. He survived after surgery, and a 71-year-old suspect was arrested at the scene.
Iran's president, Ebrahim Raisi, died on Sunday 19 May. His helicopter crashed in fog in the north-west of the country, killing the foreign minister and six others.
Closer to home, Rishi Sunak stood in pouring rain outside 10 Downing Street on Wednesday 22 May. He called a snap general election. The vote was set for 4 July.
Across the Atlantic on Thursday 30 May, a Manhattan jury convicted Donald Trump on all 34 counts. It was the first criminal conviction of an American president, sitting or former. A heavy month for front pages.
Auroras over everything
The strongest geomagnetic storm in two decades reached Earth across Friday 10 May and Saturday 11 May. Auroras appeared as far south as Florida. Phones filled with pink skies from both hemispheres.
The sky, for once, supplied the month's better news. Nemo won the Eurovision Song Contest for Switzerland on Saturday 11 May with The Code. It was a first Swiss win since 1988.
In Dublin on Wednesday 22 May, Ademola Lookman scored the first hat-trick in a major UEFA final. Atalanta beat Bayer Leverkusen 3-0. That defeat ended Leverkusen's 51-match unbeaten run. Song in Malmo, goals in Dublin: the lighter pages held their end up.
June 2024 followed with the lightest working month of the quarter and a solstice. May carried weight enough; the calendar, at least, kept its five Wednesdays in order.