Gregorian Calendar

[MULTIZ321]

- Floating Calendar

Sometimes we just can't keep track of which day it is. Imagine how they felt on this date in 1582, when Pope Gregory XIII issued a papal bull, introducing the Gregorian calendar.

The Julian calendar, which had already been in use for a millennium, was based on a 365 ¼-day solar year, with a day added every four years. Over the years, the calendar slipped out of sync with the seasons. The Gregorian calendar's only real change was that there would be no leap year on century years not exactly divisible by 400. So, the year 2000 was a leap year, but 2100 will not be. The new calendar took effect in most Catholic countries some eight months later, when the calendar went from October 15 to October 4, 1582.

Quote: "Don't be fooled by the calendar. There are only as many days in the year as you make use of." — Charles Richards

Richard

 

[nicklinneh]

There's an interesting aside to the calendar post. In 1898 or thereabouts, the modern Olympics started in Athens, Greece. The American team thought they would get there a few days early to get practice, get acclimated, etc. Little did they know that Greece was still on the Julian calendar, and they showed up on the very opening day! -ken

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

There's an interesting aside to the calendar post. In 1898 or thereabouts, the modern Olympics started in Athens, Greece. The American team thought they would get there a few days early to get practice, get acclimated, etc. Little did they know that Greece was still on the Julian calendar, and they showed up on the very opening day! -ken

Thus, contrary to the expectations of many who traveled to the games, the organized rhythmic cheers performed by fans were not Gregorian chants.