Speaking Volumes

Thanks heavens for this rhyming poem! I've relied it on all my life to remember how many days there are in each month. The version that I'm familiar with goes

             "Thirty days hath September,
              April, June, and November:
             All the rest have thirty-one,
             except February, which has twenty-eight." 

Devices such as these, little ditties to help us remember, are called mnemonics. I'm sure all of us have used one of them at some time or other to give our tired brains a nudge to remember a phrase. Mnemonics are usually verbal and work on the theory that  humans tend to remember spatial, personal, surprising, sexual or humorous or otherwise meaningful information , more readily than arbitrary sequences.

Thirty Days Has September: Cool Ways to Remember Stuff  by Chris Stevens (J370.15 STEVENS), is a nifty little book recently added to our collection. It's filled to the brim with lots of interesting hints on remembering things that seem to escape us. You'll probably recognize  some and others will be new, but all are fun. For instance, I can never seem to remember what presidents  are on Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota. How about this for help? We Just Like Rushmore! Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Roosevelt. What could be easier.  Or how about Henry VIII's 6 wives? Kate and Anne and Jane, and Anne and Kate again and again! Whew. And if you need to know if he divorced them or  who was beheaded ...try this:

Divorced, beheaded, died;
Divorced, beheaded, survived.    
                                                                       

Colors of the rainbow? You'll never forget if you use something like this:
Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain.  Red, orange, yellow, green blue, indigo and violet.  Check it out today!