Calendar

CALENDAR. Even savages h ave their rude systems of counting time by days and months and seasons, and so have the beginnings of a cal endar. Very early the sun's seasonal progress was discovered and men began to use the year as a larger unit in keeping track of time. But with what event should they start in their reckoning? The Greeks dated everything from the beginning of the so-called Olympic Register, a traditional list of the victors in the Olympic games starting with the year 776 B.C., according to our reckoning. The Romans counted time from the founding of their city in 753 B.C. The Mohammedans reckon dates from the " Hegira," or flight of Mohammed from Mecca, in 622 A.D.

The Mistake in the Christian Calendar Christian nations now date events from the birth of Christ. But this practice did not come into use until about the time of Charlemagne (9th century), and a mistake was made which placed Christ's birth about five years too late.

Thus, although we rec kon everything from the birth of Christ, scholars now tell us that that event occurred five years before the beginning of what we call the Chris tian era.

It must not be forgotten in reckoning time before the beginning of the Christian era (marked "B.c.") that the longer ago an event occurred the larger is the number of the year, because we are counting back wards. For instance, the Olympian games of 776 B.C. were held 23 years before the founding of Rome, which is supposed to have taken place 753 B.C. The year 150 B.C. was 100 years before 50 B.C.; but the year 150 A.D. (Anno Domini), or after Christ, was 100 years after 50 A.D., because here we are counting for ward, 1, 2, 3, 4, etc., instead of backward, 4, 3, 2, 1.

We also divide time before and after the birth of Christ into periods of 100 years or centuries. Thus the years between the time of the birth of Christ and 100 A.D. are in the first century; from 100 to 200 A.D.

is the second century, etc. The years between 1900 and 2000 are in the 20th century, in which we are now living. In reckoning time before the birth of Christ, we count the centuries back from that event, just as we do the years.

How Leap Year Helps Out in the Calendar One of the difficulties in dealing with the calendar arises from the fact that the solar year cannot be divided evenly into months and days, because the time actually required for the earth's journey around the sun is 365 days 5 hours 48 minutes and 46 seconds.

In the old "Julian calendar," prepared by astronomers under order of Julius Caesar, every fourth year was made a "leap year," and was given an extra day, making it 366 days long. But correction by a whole

day every four years was too much, and after this calendar had been in use for over 1,500 years it was found that the calendar year was about 10 days behind the solar year. Thus in 1582 when the sun crossed the equator in the spring (vernal equinox), the date by the calendar was March 11 instead of March 21, as it should have been.

So Pope Gregory XIII directed, as a result of studies by the astronomers, that 10 days be dropped from the calendar that year, and that the day after Oct. 4, 1582 should be October 15. To keep the calendar year and solar year together thenceforth it was directed that three times in every 400 years the leap year arrangement should be omitted. This is accomplished by not counting as leap years the years ending in two ciphers, unless they are divisible not by four, but by 400. Thus 1600 remained a leap year, but 1700, 1800, and 1900 were not. This arrange ment will keep the calendar year and solar year to gether until the year 4000, by which time the differ ence will again have amounted to one day.

The new calendar was called the Gregorian or New Style calendar, while the Old Style was used when time was counted by the old Julian calendar. The Gregorian calendar was adopted almost immediately by Roman Catholic countries, but Protestant and Greek Catholic nations were slow to accept it. It was not adopted in England until 1752, when it was neces sary to drop 11 days. The foolish people were very much aroused at this, and held great meetings and went about in processions crying, " Give us back our 11 days!" Russia did not accept the New Style until the revolution in 1917, when there was a difference of 13 days between the two calendars.

Another reform which the Gregorian calendar effected was the fixing of the time for the beginning of the year. Different times for beginning the year had been used—some countries beginning it with December 25, others with March 25, and the like.

Now January 1 was fixed as the year's beginning.

This change in the calendar is the reason that in documents of the 18th century we frequently find dates given in two ways, Old and New Style. For instance, George Washington was born Feb. 22, 1732, N.S., or Feb. 11, 1731, O.S. Sometimes this is writ ten Feb. 1731. The Pilgrims landed at Ply mouth on Dec. I+, 1620, and according to Governor Bradford, they " began to erect the first house" on Dec. 25, 1620, O.S. In the New Style calendar this was Jan. 4, 1621. (See also Day; Month; Week.)