Calendars 'n' That.....

[DavidWW]

The following is based on information from a feature in the (Glasgow) Herald of a few days ago, adapted and added to by David W Webster © September 2005...... additions and corrections welcome


“Times to Ponder”

There are different faith and national calendars, not all of which have 12 months.

Islamic Calendar – based upon AD 622 (or CE, Common Era), the year of the Hegira when Muhammed travelled from Mecca to Medina. “H” stands for Hegira. This year (2005) = 1426 H.

Hindu Calendar – based upon the start of the Saka Era in 78 CE. “SE” stands for Saka Era. This year = 1927 SE.

Sikh Calendar – the year begins on April 13 or 14 and the calendar is based on the Khalsa Era three centuries ago. “KE” stands for Khalsa Era. This year = 307 KE

Baha’i Calendar – the beginning of the Baha’i Era occurred in 1844 CE. The calendar has 19 months, each with 19 days. “BE” stands for Baha’i Era. This year = 161 BE.

Jewish Calendar – based on the belief that the universe was created 3761 BCE (Before Common Era). The Jewish calendar is moon based. “AM” stands for Anno Mundi. This year = 5766 AM

Tibetan Buddist Calendar - 2005 CE is the Year of the Wood Rooster 2132 (From February 9, 2005)

Jain Calendar - The regular festivals of the Jain year follow the traditional Indian calendar so the dates vary somewhat from year to year in the European calendar. Each Indian month is divided into the bright half (when the moon is waxing) and the dark half, and the days are numbered within each half-month. The year is often given according to the Vikram Samvat era which commenced in 57 B.C. (abbreviated V.S.) or, in Jain circles, according to the Ira Nirvana Samvat, commencing with Mahavira's nirvana in 527 B.C. It must be remembered that the Indian New Year falls around October in the European calendar.

Zoroastrian Calendar - Founded by Zarathushtra (Zoroaster in Greek; Zarthosht in India and Persia). Conservative Zoroastrians assign a date of 6000 BCE to the founding of the religion; other followers estimate 600 BCE. Historians and religious scholars generally date his life sometime between 1500 and 1000 BCE on the basis of his style of writing.

Chinese Calendar – The Chinese calendar has been in continuous use for centuries, which predates the International Calendar (based on the Gregorian Calendar). The current calendar goes back only some 425 years. The calendar measures time, from short durations of minutes and hours, to intervals of time measured in months, years and centuries, entirely based on the astronomical observations of the movement of the Sun, Moon and stars.

Japanese Calendar – Since the adoption of the Gregorian calendar, three different systems for counting years have or had been used in Japan:
· The Western Common Era (西暦, seireki) designation
· The Japanese era name (年号, nengō) based on the reign of the current emperor, the year 2005 being Heisei 17
· The imperial year (皇紀, kōki) based on the mythical founding of Japan by Emperor Jimmu in 660BCE
Of these three, the first two are still in current use; the imperial calendar was used until the end of World War II.

David

[AndrewP]

Another "New Year's Day" that we may choose not to celebrate is the the start of the new tax year, each April 6th in the UK.

To quote from the FAQs of the HM Revenue & Customs website:

Why does the tax year start on April 6?

The reason for the tax year running from 6 April to 5 April is primarily historical and has its origin in the switch from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar in 1752.

It had been calculated in the 16th Century that the Julian calendar had lost 9 days since its introduction in 46 BC. Most of Europe changed to the new, more accurate, Gregorian calendar in 1582, but this country continued with the old one until September 1752 by which time the error had increased to 11 days.

These 11 days were 'caught up' by being removed from the calendar altogether - 2 September was followed by 14 September. In order not to lose 11 days' tax revenue in that tax year, though, the authorities decided to tack the missing days on at the end, which meant moving the beginning of the tax year from the 25 March, Lady Day, (which since the Middle Ages has been regarded as the beginning of the legal year) to 6 April.

The dates were adopted for income tax on its re-imposition in 1842 and have not changed since.

All the best,

Andrew Paterson
アンドリュー　パターソン　さん

[DavidWW]

Up to 1600 the year ended in Scotland on 24th March, with the “New Year” beginning on 25th March (the Feast of Annunciation in the Catholic Calendar) but termed the start of Spring by the Presbyterian Church of Scotland.

In other words, the year, say 1555/56, ran from 25th March 1555 to 24th March 1556 !

While this may come as a surprise to those who associate Scottish New Years with the Hogmanay festival held on January 1, historically the Scots had always celebrated the New Year four days after the Vernal Equinox, on March 21, also known as the beginning of Spring, or Alban Eiler. Anglicized as "Lady Day", the traditional Scottish New Year was just one of many ancient Druid religious practises that survived Christianity's "civilizing" influence since Roman times. Based on the lunar and solar cycles and the passing of the seasons, these so-called "pagan" celebrations were more important - and more accurate - to the ordinary Scot than any man-made calendar could ever claim to be.

That changed in 1600, with that year being the first when New Year’s Day was the 1st January.

...his Majestie with the advise of the Lordis of his Secreit Counsall statutis and ordanis that in all tyme cuming the first day of the yeir sal begin yeirlie upoun the first day of Januare....
Register of the Privy Council, 17 December, 1599

Whether or not this was in conjunction with the change from the Julian Calendar to the Gregorian Calendar is a matter of continuing debate among experts.

In many other countries in Europe the Julian/Gregorian change was accompanied by the adjustment of the beginning of the year to 1st January.

Julian and Gregorian Calendars

Classical astronomers calculated that the solar year (i.e. the time taken for the earth to orbit the sun) was 365¼ days. The Julian calendar (introduced in 45 BC) was based on this calculation, and had a standard year of 365 days, with every fourth year (a 'leap year') having an extra day to take account of the ¼ day. The Julian calendar was used throughout Europe until 1582, and in some countries for several years or even centuries further. This method of fixing the date is known as 'Old Style'. In medieval Europe, including Scotland, the beginning of the year was usually 25 March, so that the day after 24 March 1490 was 25 March 1491. Medieval scholars discovered that the year of 365¼ days was a slight over-estimate, and by the sixteenth century a discrepancy of about 10 days had accumulated between the calendar year and the solar year.

Pope Gregory XIII corrected the error by cutting 10 days from the calendar in 1582 (so that 15 October 1582 followed 4 October 1582), and reformed the calendar to make only the last year of centuries divisible by 400 a leap year, i.e. 2000 was a leap year, but 1900 and 1800 were not. This calendar became known as the 'Gregorian Calendar', and dates calculated by the Gregorian Calendar are often described as “New Style”, previous Julian dates being “Old Style”, - you may see the date given in the format, for example”, “10th Sep 1752 Old Style/22nd Sept New Style”.

In addition he decreed that the year should begin on 1st January. However, Pope Gregory's reformation of the calendar was not accepted by most protestant states until the eighteenth century (and the twentieth century in Russia, the Balkans and Greece). The Russian Orthodox Church still calculates the dates of its festivals by the Julian Calendar.

Scotland adopted the change to the start of the year in 1599 (31 December 1599 was followed by 1 January 1600). In the rest of the British Isles the start of the year change did not take place until 1 January 1752, under Chesterfield's Act (24 Geo. II, c.23), which also removed the days (eleven by this time) required to bring the British Isles into the Gregorian New Style (2 September 1752 was followed by 14 September 1752).

Some correspondents in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries would mark two dates on a letter, e.g. '11/21 March 1651', to take account of the different calendars operating in different parts of Europe.

Where it gets complicated in terms of Scotland is when the Julian/Gregorian change took place, - 1st January 1600, 2nd September 1752, or some date in between, - pick your expert and take your choice !!

What probably happened was that Scotland did change to the Gregorian Calendar in 1600 but then ran a dual calendar system depending on whether or not the matter involved an internal Scottish situation or correspondence, or trading with Catholic Europe, or those confusing people south of the Border in England, a situation not made easier by the Union of Crowns in 1603, - James VI of Scotland becoming also James I of England and moving his court and the centre of power in Scottish terms from Edinburgh to London; and the Union of Parliaments in 1707, when the hitherto, separate Scottish parliament ceased to exist, with the Westminster parliament assuming powers over Scotland – it was supposed to be a “Union” of parliaments, but that’s another story! (The Scottish parliament was restored a few years ago, albeit with limited powers).

The tax year in the UK starts on the 6th April ! Why ? Because the government year used to start on 25th March, which changed by +11 days in 1752, - by this time the adjustment required was 11 days, - thus becoming 6th April.

And if you think that's complicated, then pity the poor Swedes, - Sweden decided to make a gradual change from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar, presumably thereby hoping to avoid the major civil disturbance, including riots, that there had been in some countries over the “loss” of 10 or 11 days from peoples’ lives. By dropping every leap year from 1700 through 1740 the eleven superfluous days would be omitted and from 1 Mar 1740 they would be in synchronisation with the Gregorian calendar. (But in the meantime they would be in sync with nobody!) So 1700 (which should have been a leap year in the Julian calendar) was not a leap year in Sweden. However, by mistake, 1704 and 1708 became leap years. This left Sweden out of synchronisation with both the Julian and the Gregorian world, so they decided to go back to the Julian calendar. In order to do this, they inserted an additional extra day in 1712, making that year a double leap year! So in 1712, February had 30 days in Sweden. Later, in 1753, Sweden changed to the Gregorian calendar by dropping 11 days like everyone else!!

David

[Tracey]

Thanks Andrew for the reminder that i still havent got mine off to the Accountant yet ! (im sure he doesnt even look at them) ............and speaking of calenders i once found a site where i could look up the birth date and year of when my predeccesors where born and see what day they were born on ......now where was that.............. k

[Jack]

Hi Tracey,

Try http://fp.ayrshireroots.plus.com/Geneal ... rn%20z.htm

Jack