29th February, 2024
ANUPA MUKHERJEE
● In October 1582, a strange event occurred: ten days disappeared from the calendar. ● This wasn't a time travel anomaly but a change from the old Julian calendar to the current Gregorian calendar.
● The Julian Calendar (introduced by Julius Caesar) was slightly out of sync with the solar year. ● Over centuries, this discrepancy caused important dates like Easter to drift away from their intended place in the seasons.
● Pope Gregory XIII introduced a more accurate (Gregorian) calendar system. ● To fix the existing date drift, skipping ten days in October 1582 was necessary.
● In countries that adopted the Gregorian calendar, the day after October 4th, 1582, was October 15th, 1582. ● This sudden jump confused me and even caused protests in some places.
● Not all countries switched to the Gregorian calendar immediately. ● Britain and its colonies (including what would become the USA) didn't adopt it until 1752. ● This means historical dates before the switch can differ depending on the calendar.
● The Gregorian calendar is the world's most widely used calendar system. ● It still requires minor adjustments (leap seconds) to maintain accuracy. Still, the concept of "disappearing" days is a thing of the past.