The British Switch to the Gregorian Calendar

Newsgroups: soc.genealogy.computing From: edshaw@iglou.com (Edward Shaw) Subject: Gregorian Calendar X-Nntp-Posting-Host: dp2-027.ppp.iglou.com Message-ID: <DFvpK9.CuK@iglou.com> Sender: news@iglou.com (News Administrator) Organization: IgLou Internet Services (1-800-436-4456) X-Newsreader: News Xpress Version 1.0 Beta #2.1 Date: Tue, 3 Oct 1995 15:29:20 GMT

THE AMAZING 80% YEAR OF 1752

The British finally accepted the Gregorian calendar for itself and all its possessions effective March 25, 1752. But, a remarkable 2-step change was made which is little realized today. Read on ...

It is most important that the reader understand that the British used to change the year number on March 25th and not January 1st as we do today. On March 24, 1751 the next day would be March 25, 1752 advancing the year as usual. But, a somewhat confusing phenomenon occurred, and for present day imaginations, comprehension requires close attention.

First, it was decreed that 1752 should end with December 31st and not be carried on to the next March 25th. Second, it was also decreed that the arrival of September 2, 1752 should be called September 14, 1752.

For the sake of clarity we explain; the period of January 1 -- March 24, 1751 was the end of an epoch. The year of 1752 began on March 25th and ended with December 31, 1752, thus the earlier days of 1752 never existed, as the deleted days of September 2--13 also never existed. The year 1752 was a very short year; 72 days shorter, in fact.

Of course, dates may be recomputed from the old to the new calendars. For instance, George Washington's birthday was February 11, 1731 as far as his mother was concerned. Today, we must reckon his birthday as February 22, 1732 in consideration of the new calendar. To put it in perspective, if we count backwards from today the actual number of days since G.W was born, we would come up with February 22, 1732 using the present-day calendar.

To convert from the old Julian to the new Gregorian calendar, one must add 10 to 13 days to the old date, and sometimes change the year one extra when the date considered falls within the period January 1 -- March 24. This is crucially important to those interested in genealogy and historical research. Documented dates before March 25, 1752 do not necessarily always corrobate a stated period of time. And, references to any New Year's Day before 1752, in Great Britain, meant March 25th.

It's true ... every syllable of it.

From: Brian Pears <brian@swinhope.demon.co.uk> Newsgroups: soc.genealogy.computing Subject: Re: Gregorian Calendar Date: Wed, 04 Oct 1995 02:25:01 GMT Message-ID: <810342389wnr@swinhope.demon.co.uk> References: <DFvpK9.CuK@iglou.com> Reply-To: brian@swinhope.demon.co.uk X-NNTP-Posting-Host: swinhope.demon.co.uk X-Broken-Date: Wednesday, Oct 04, 1995 02.25.01 X-Newsreader: Newswin Alpha 0.7

2. Second, it was also decreed that the arrival of September 2, 1752 should be called September 14, 1752.