[Granville-Hough] 4 Oct 2009 - 2 Jul 1994 - Calendars
Trustees for Granville W. Hough
gwhough-trust at oakapple.net
Mon Jan 24 06:54:01 PST 2011
Genealogists: Beware!!!
CALENDARS, AND DATES FROM JULIAN AND GREGORIAN VERSIONS.
When Julius Ceasar set up the Julian Calendar in 45 BC, he caused
spring to begin in March. This calendar was too long, and Pope Gregory
in 1582 made a correction which was known as the Gregorian Calendar.
England did not adopt the Gregorian Calendar until Wednesday, 2 Sep
1752, which was the last day recorded for the Julian Calendar in
England, but not so in other countries. The next day in England was
Thursday, 14 Sep 1752.
Under the Julian Calendar, the new year started with 25 March, with
September as the 7th month, October the 8th, November the 9th, and
December the 10th month. January was the 11th month, and February the
12th. Under the Gregorian Calendar, the year started with 1 January.
The days between 1 Jan and 25 Mar were the transition days from the old
year to the new.
There is endless confusion about the way the dates and years were
written. For a period of time, the days between 1 Jan and 25 Mar were
written with both years noted, such as 1 Mar 1660/1661. This meant that
the date was in the transition period between the two years. The
Quakers sometimes used the month and date, and the older records do not
always indicate whether the 12th month was February or December.
The most confusion occurs when one tries to convert Old Style dating
(under the Julian Calendar) to new dating of the Gregorian Calendar
after 14 Sep 1752. It is best for a historian to leave the dates in the
form in which they are originally written. This avoids much arguing
about whether the difference in dates means a different person, or is
merely someone trying to change the dates to the current calendar.
Related to this discussion is the adjustment of leap years to keep
the calendar as close as possible to the natural year, the time it takes
the earth to revolve around the sun, 365.2422 days. Google.com now
gives to any schoolchild a ready source of information; and the old
trick question: Year 2000 was a leap year: Will year 2100 be a leap
year? The answer is No, No, the year 2100 is not evenly divisible by
400. There were many old stories about the calendar makers of 1900 who
built up a stock of 1900 leap year calendars which never sold. It will
probably happen in 2100 as well.
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Ghandhi's Wisdom:
There is nothing more potent than thought.
Deed follows word and word follows thought.
The word is the result of a mighty thought,
and where the thought is mighty and pure
the result is always mighty and pure.
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