Wednesday, December 31, 2008
On the Last Day of 2008
I had originally planned for an entry on Christmas eve but I guess things got busy and I didn't have the time to do it. Well anyway, New Year's eve pretty much calls for an entry as well!
Quoting from the depths of Wikipedia,
"Traditionally, the Roman calendar began on the first day of
March. However, it was in January (the eleventh month) when the consuls of ancient Rome assumed the government.
Julius Caesar, in 47 BC, changed the system, creating the Julian calendar, with some modifications in the time of Marco Antonio consul in 44 BC, the emperor
Augustus Caesar in
8 BC and finally by
Pope Gregory XIII in
1582, is used today. In this year begins on
January 1. Subsequently, the Gregorian calendar had the habit and the celebration was marked with a religious significance during the Middle Ages and later centuries."
Hmm... this must be one of the rare few Wikipedia entries that I have difficulty understanding. That is not so much in the content of the paragraph, but rather, it has something to do with the structure of the sentences and probably some grammar as well.
Anyway, interestingly, in all countries using the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Day is a public holiday except for Israel. (as found out from Wikipedia without cross-referencing)
More from Wikipedia...
"The Gregorian calendar is the most widely used
calendar in the world today. It was first proposed by the
Calabrian doctor
Aloysius Lilius, and decreed by
Pope Gregory XIII, after whom it was named, on 24 February 1582 by the
papal bull Inter gravissimas.
It is a reform of the
Julian calendar and continues the year numbering system of the Julian calendar, counting years from the traditional
Incarnation of
Jesus. Years after this date are given the designation "
anno Domini" (AD),
[1] or "
Common Era" (CE); years before this date are labeled "before Christ" (BC), or "Before the Common Era" (BCE).
[2]The Gregorian calendar modifies the Julian calendar's regular four-year cycle of
leap years as follows:
Every year that is exactly divisible by four is a leap year, except for years that are exactly divisible by 100; the centurial years that are exactly divisible by 400 are still leap years. For example, the year 1900 is not a leap year; the year 2000 is a leap year.
[3]"
"The Gregorian solar calendar is an arithmetical calendar. It counts days as the basic unit of time, grouping them into years of 365 or 366 days; and repeats completely every 146,097 days, which fill 400 years, and which also happens to be 20,871 seven-day
weeks. Of these 400 years, 303 (the "common years") have 365 days, and 97 (the leap years) have 366 days. This gives an average year length of exactly 365.2425 days, or 365 days, 5 hours, 49 minutes and 12 seconds."
It is very interesting how much there is to the calendar we're so used to seeing. There is a whole long history behind it and if you're interested and free and bored enough, you should really read up on it. (If I were to continue quoting, it'll be an extremely looonnnggg entry!)
Here's an early wish for the new year - may all your 2009s be filled with much joy and delight.
Smile always!
posted by Kh at
