Achy, Breaky Hearts…
Brace yourselves, Dear Readers, for heavy weather on the seas of romance: today– the first Monday in December– is the likeliest day in the year for a break-up.
Lee Byron, collaborator with the oft-featured David McCandless (e.g., here and here) elaborates:
Did you know that the most likely day of the year to be broken up with is the first Monday in December? Perhaps some combination of seasonal affect disorder and a case of the Mondays has warped the idea of you meeting their family over the holidays into something horrid. Consequently, Christmas Day is the least likely day of breakups. If you make it through spring cleaning, watch out for April. April fools, we’re breaking up! No, really…
Peruse his “Breakups – The Visual Miscellaneum” for looks not just at when, but also at how and why…
(TotH to Robert Krulwich)
As we spare those daisies, we might recall that this is the anniversary of a romance between two young sheep herders that lasted two decades (and earned eight Academy Award nominations); it was on this date in 2005 that Brokeback Mountain premiered.
It had to be ewe… (source)