"George Washington was born on February 11, 1731 (Old Style)...
At the time, the entire British Empire, including its North American possessions, was on the Julian calendar; the Empire, not being bound to the Catholic Church, had not yet adopted the modern Gregorian calendar that Catholic countries had adopted in 1582. Consequently, by the 1730s, the Julian calendar used by Britain and the Colonies was eleven days behind the Gregorian, because of leap year differences. Furthermore, the British civil year began on March 25 rather than January 1, so that dates in February (such as this one) 'belonged' to the preceding year. (See Dual dating). In 1752, The British Empire switched to the Gregorian calendar... Since February 11, 1731, on the Julian calendar was February 22, 1732, on the Gregorian, and he was alive at the time the change was made, Washington changed his birth date to February 22, 1732, to match the new calendar."
The discussion continues at the Wikipedia entry for Presidents' Day. You learn something every day.
Speaking of calendars, I have often wondered why we don't "backdate" the months to align with seasons. For instance, since Dec. 21 is the beginning of winter, why not make that day January 1st? And since summer begins on June 21, maybe that gets moved to July 1st? Why not?
ReplyDeleteAs for the few extra days we accumulate over time, that would be a national holiday or the such to get us back into balance.
And when it comes to Daylight Savings Time, I have a great idea.... When it is time to SPRING FORWARD, which is always utterly loathsome, so see if you like this idea:
Let's say that you are supposed to spring forward at 9 PM on Saturday night. But instead of springing forward to 10 PM...you go BACK to FRIDAY at 10 PM? So instead of losing an hour...you have gained a day.
If you like this, write your Congressman and demand a change! If you don't like it, then write your complaints on $50 bills and send it to me.
Meh. Too complicated. We just need to nuke Earth's axis back to zero degrees tilt. Hey presto, no more seasons, no more worries.
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