Just Facts:
In September 1752 the Julian calendar was replaced with the Gregorian calendar in Great Britain and its American
colonies. The Julian calendar was 11 days behind the
Gregorian calendar, so September 14 followed September 2 on the day of the change. The result was that between September 3 and 13, absolutely nothing happened!
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The first Roman Calendar (introduced in 535BC) had 10 months, with 304 days in a year that began in March. January and February were added only later. In 46BC, Julius Caesar created "The Year of Confusion" by adding 80 days to the year making it 445 days long to bring the calendar back in step with the seasons. The solar year - with the value of
365 days and 6 hours - was made the basis of the calendar.
To take care of the 6 hours, every 4th year was made a 366-day year. It was then that Caesar decreed that the year begins with the 1st of January.
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In 325AD Constantine the Great, the first Christian Roman
emperor, introduced Sunday as a holy day in a new 7-day
week. He also introduced movable (Easter) and immovable
feasts (Christmas).
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The Chinese New Year occurs at the second new moon after
the beginning of the Northern Hemisphere winter, thus
between January 20th and February 20th.
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The Jewish calendar began 3,760 years before the beginning
of the Christian era. The Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah,
is celebrated during September or October of the Gregorian
calendar.
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Century years can be leap years only when they are divisible
by 400 (e.g. 1600). This rule eliminates three leap years
in four centuries, making the calendar sufficiently correct
for all ordinary purposes.
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