Okla-homey
1/1/2008, 10:24 AM
January 1, 45 B.C.: New Year's Day
2052 years ago today, in 45 B.C., New Year's Day is celebrated on January 1 for the first time in history as the Julian calendar takes effect.
http://aycu01.webshots.com/image/40200/2004248214372055558_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004248214372055558)
Julius Ceasar. Sculpted from life.
Soon after becoming Roman dictator, Julius Caesar decided that the traditional Roman calendar was in dire need of reform. Introduced around the seventh century B.C., the Roman calendar attempted to follow the lunar cycle but frequently fell out of phase with the seasons and had to be corrected.
In addition, the pontifices, the Roman body charged with overseeing the calendar, often abused its authority by adding days to extend political terms or interfere with elections.
In designing his new calendar, Caesar enlisted the aid of Sosigenes, a Greek astronomer who worked in Alexandria, who advised him to do away with the lunar cycle entirely and follow the solar year, as did the Egyptians.
The year was calculated to be 365 and 1/4 days, and Caesar added 67 days to 45 B.C., making 46 B.C. begin on January 1, rather than in March. He also decreed that every four years a day be added to February, thus theoretically keeping his calendar from falling out of step.
Shortly before his assassination in 44 B.C., he changed the name of the month Quintilis to Julius (July) after himself.
http://aycu07.webshots.com/image/40046/2004261782986503279_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004261782986503279)
Spot in the Roman Senate where Julius Caesar was stabbed to death by multiple dagger wielding Roman Senators in March of 44 BC. The dome of St. Peter's basilica is seen in the left background
Later, the month of Sextilis was renamed Augustus(August) after his successor Augustus Ceasar.
http://aycu33.webshots.com/image/40592/2004278384739385451_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004278384739385451)
Augustus reined at the time of Christ's birth. Augustus had to fight off a claim to the throne by his pop's love child by Cleopatra. The Egyptian queen was all insistent and stuff that her baby daddy Julius had wanted their child to be the Roman emperor when Julius died. Augustus, although he had a bit of a conflict of interest, begged to differ as Julius' legitimate son and worked pretty hard to ensure his half-brother would never inherit.
Thus, our modern month names are a blend of mythological figures (like March for Mars, the Roman god of war, June for Juno, etc.), the above mentioned Caesars, and numerical based names (like October, formerly the eighth month of the Julian calendar, December the tenth month, etc.).
Celebration of New Year's Day in January fell out of practice during the Middle Ages, and even those who strictly adhered to the Julian calendar did not observe the New Year exactly on January 1.
The reason for the latter was that Caesar and Sosigenes failed to calculate the correct value for the solar year as 365.242199 days. Instead, they set it at 365.25 days. Thus, an 11-minute-a-year error added seven days by the year 1000, and 10 days by the mid-15th century.
http://aycu09.webshots.com/image/39248/2004268349195361449_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004268349195361449)
Pope Gregory XIII. he fixed the calendar we essentially use today
The Roman church became aware of this problem, and in the 1570s Pope Gregory XIII commissioned Jesuit astronomer Christopher Clavius to come up with a new calendar.
In 1582, the Gregorian calendar was implemented, omitting 10 days for that year and establishing the new rule that only one of every four years should be a leap year. The year that just began is a leap year with 29 days in February.
http://aycu24.webshots.com/image/38503/2004243931894658150_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004243931894658150)
Fr. Christopher Clavius, S.J.
February 2008 has five Fridays - it starts and ends on a Friday. Between 1904and 2096, leap years with same day of week for each date repeat every 28 years which means that the last time February had 5 Fridays was in 1980 and next time will be in 2036.
A person born on February 29 may be called a "leapling". In common years they usually celebrate their birthdays on 28 February or 1 March.
For 452 years now, since implementation of the Gregorian calendar in 1582, people around the world have gathered en masse on January 1 to celebrate the precise arrival of the New Year.
Oh yeah, there is still a surviving vestigial reference to the old Julian calendar. When a date is stated in terms of the actual number of days since the dawn of the new year, it is called the Julian date. Thus, when the Julian date is given for my birthday, January 17, it is stated as 017.
http://aycu38.webshots.com/image/38317/2004276499642001177_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004276499642001177)
2052 years ago today, in 45 B.C., New Year's Day is celebrated on January 1 for the first time in history as the Julian calendar takes effect.
http://aycu01.webshots.com/image/40200/2004248214372055558_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004248214372055558)
Julius Ceasar. Sculpted from life.
Soon after becoming Roman dictator, Julius Caesar decided that the traditional Roman calendar was in dire need of reform. Introduced around the seventh century B.C., the Roman calendar attempted to follow the lunar cycle but frequently fell out of phase with the seasons and had to be corrected.
In addition, the pontifices, the Roman body charged with overseeing the calendar, often abused its authority by adding days to extend political terms or interfere with elections.
In designing his new calendar, Caesar enlisted the aid of Sosigenes, a Greek astronomer who worked in Alexandria, who advised him to do away with the lunar cycle entirely and follow the solar year, as did the Egyptians.
The year was calculated to be 365 and 1/4 days, and Caesar added 67 days to 45 B.C., making 46 B.C. begin on January 1, rather than in March. He also decreed that every four years a day be added to February, thus theoretically keeping his calendar from falling out of step.
Shortly before his assassination in 44 B.C., he changed the name of the month Quintilis to Julius (July) after himself.
http://aycu07.webshots.com/image/40046/2004261782986503279_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004261782986503279)
Spot in the Roman Senate where Julius Caesar was stabbed to death by multiple dagger wielding Roman Senators in March of 44 BC. The dome of St. Peter's basilica is seen in the left background
Later, the month of Sextilis was renamed Augustus(August) after his successor Augustus Ceasar.
http://aycu33.webshots.com/image/40592/2004278384739385451_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004278384739385451)
Augustus reined at the time of Christ's birth. Augustus had to fight off a claim to the throne by his pop's love child by Cleopatra. The Egyptian queen was all insistent and stuff that her baby daddy Julius had wanted their child to be the Roman emperor when Julius died. Augustus, although he had a bit of a conflict of interest, begged to differ as Julius' legitimate son and worked pretty hard to ensure his half-brother would never inherit.
Thus, our modern month names are a blend of mythological figures (like March for Mars, the Roman god of war, June for Juno, etc.), the above mentioned Caesars, and numerical based names (like October, formerly the eighth month of the Julian calendar, December the tenth month, etc.).
Celebration of New Year's Day in January fell out of practice during the Middle Ages, and even those who strictly adhered to the Julian calendar did not observe the New Year exactly on January 1.
The reason for the latter was that Caesar and Sosigenes failed to calculate the correct value for the solar year as 365.242199 days. Instead, they set it at 365.25 days. Thus, an 11-minute-a-year error added seven days by the year 1000, and 10 days by the mid-15th century.
http://aycu09.webshots.com/image/39248/2004268349195361449_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004268349195361449)
Pope Gregory XIII. he fixed the calendar we essentially use today
The Roman church became aware of this problem, and in the 1570s Pope Gregory XIII commissioned Jesuit astronomer Christopher Clavius to come up with a new calendar.
In 1582, the Gregorian calendar was implemented, omitting 10 days for that year and establishing the new rule that only one of every four years should be a leap year. The year that just began is a leap year with 29 days in February.
http://aycu24.webshots.com/image/38503/2004243931894658150_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004243931894658150)
Fr. Christopher Clavius, S.J.
February 2008 has five Fridays - it starts and ends on a Friday. Between 1904and 2096, leap years with same day of week for each date repeat every 28 years which means that the last time February had 5 Fridays was in 1980 and next time will be in 2036.
A person born on February 29 may be called a "leapling". In common years they usually celebrate their birthdays on 28 February or 1 March.
For 452 years now, since implementation of the Gregorian calendar in 1582, people around the world have gathered en masse on January 1 to celebrate the precise arrival of the New Year.
Oh yeah, there is still a surviving vestigial reference to the old Julian calendar. When a date is stated in terms of the actual number of days since the dawn of the new year, it is called the Julian date. Thus, when the Julian date is given for my birthday, January 17, it is stated as 017.
http://aycu38.webshots.com/image/38317/2004276499642001177_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004276499642001177)