Ash Wednesday

Until 1715, Ash Wednesday was marked in the British royal household by an officer called the King's Cock Crower imitating a cockerel, in remembrance of St Peter being called back to repentance by a cock crow.

The tradition was dropped when the Prince of Wales (later George II), whose English was far from perfect, took the display as some form of offensive lunacy.
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I don't often find myself on the side of a Prince of Wales, but in this case he may have had a point.
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The prescription of a 40-day fast for Lent was first set out at the Council of Nicaea in AD 325. In Western Christianity, Lent runs from Ash Wednesday to Easter Saturday. Its notional count of 40 days do not include the six Sundays in that period, because Sundays are not considered days of penance.

In the eastern Orthodox Church, Sundays are included in the count, and the fast runs from Ash Monday to the Friday before Palm Sunday.

The word Lent originally just meant Spring,  as in the German language Lenz and Dutch lente, deriving from the Germanic root for long because in the spring the days visibly lengthen.
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Which leads me to remind those of you for whom it matters, Daylight Savings Time begins this coming weekend, Saturday/Sunday, March 9/10 -- so Spring Forward!