Calendar Adjustment Day 2023: The 2nd of September is Calendar Adjustment Day, which is more than just a day to adjust your calendar. It commemorates the historical moment when New Year’s Day was moved to January 1 and the entire calendar system was altered.
The HISTORY OF DAY OF CALENDAR ADJUSTMENT
After the British Calendar Act of 1751, Great Britain adopted the Gregorian Calendar in 1752. However, synchronisation with the proposed Gregorian Calendar necessitated the omission of 11 days, so that the new calendar could be adopted. The residents of Britain and the American colonies went to slumber on September 2, 1752, and awoke to September 14, 1752, the following day. This change also led to the celebration of New Year’s Day on January 1st. Those eleven days are lost forever.
The adjustment to the calendar was not well received by the public, who felt deceived and demanded their 11 days back. It was necessary to omit these eleven September days in order for the United Kingdom to align with the Julian calendar, like the rest of Europe.
According to a number of historians, the calendar change resulted in riots and civil unrest with the demand, “Give us our 11 days.” Additionally, many individuals believed their lifetimes were shortened by 11 days. The relocation of certain holy days and festivals, such as Easter, was also viewed as suspicious, and the new dates were deemed “incorrect.”
To avoid confusion, colonial records distinguish between historical dates using the terms ‘Old Style’ and ‘New Style. These dates are denoted with a forward slash (/).
The transition required several distinct stages. First, December 31, 1750, the last day of the month, was supplanted by January 1, 1750. December was the tenth month on the Old Style calendar, while January was the eleventh. Then, modifications were made to March 24. Historically, March 25 marked the beginning of the New Year on the Old Style calendar. The next alteration occurred on January 1, 1752, after December 31, 1751. As previously noted, the New Year began on March 25 in the Old Style calendar. The 2nd of September 1752 was succeeded by the 14th of September 1752. This is the section where eleven days were omitted from the year.
5 FACTS REGARDING THE GREEK CALENDAR
- The Gregorian calendar was created with the intention of correcting the Julian calendar’s inaccuracy regarding the date of Easter.
- Despite being regarded as the authority behind the new calendar, he commissioned physician Aloysius Lilius and astronomer Christopher Clavius to design it.
- In 1582, “Lunario Novo secondo la nuova riforma” was one of the earliest editions of the Gregorian calendar to be printed.
- Protestants resisted the adoption of the new calendar, as some viewed it as a satanic plot.
- According to the Galileo Project, “the Gregorian Calendar is useless for astronomy because it contains a 10-day gap; astronomers use the Julian Date to calculate positions backward in time.”
WHY THE DAY OF CALENDAR ADJUSTMENT IS IMPORTANT
Many of us are unaware of this historical event. It’s these little things that appear to have just been put in place, but have a rich history in terms of how they were implemented incrementally.
Calendar Adjustment Day highlights the significance of time. In the same way that the people of colonial Britain lost 11 days to the sands of time, each instant that we waste and do not appreciate is also lost to the sands of time.
National Today is dedicated to the days of the year, so how could we not adore the calendar?
CALENDAR ADJUSTMENT DAY DATES
| Year | Date | Day |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | September 2 | Saturday |
| 2024 | September 2 | Monday |
| 2025 | September 2 | Tuesday |
| 2026 | September 2 | Wednesday |
| 2027 | September 2 | Thursday |
