Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1882-12-21
The GregOrian Calendar.

A calendar is the means of reckonin!
time. Our calendar begins with th,
birth of Christ, from which time W.
count up eighteen hundred and eighty
two years. The Jews and the Russian:
begin with the creation of the world
The Chinese and Egyptians reckoned by
the lives of their kings. The Romans
began with the founding of their city
I753 B. G. The Greeks counted the years
by Olympiads of five years each, begin
ming with the first Olympic Games, in
776, B. C. The Mohammedans reckon
! from the flight of Mohammed to Medina
Savages notch upon trees a mark fol
each year as it passes.
Years are of tive kinds, the solar and
the lunar. The solar or sun year is
founded upon the revolution of The
earth around the sun. The lunar is
composed of twelve revolutions Of the
moon. Our calendar uses solar years,
and divides each year into twelve
months of different lengths. 1t is found
ed upon the Roman calendar, which
was reformed by Julius Caesar and an
Egyptian mathematician, SOsigenes.
Caesar found the Roman calendar in
great disorder. The true regulation of
time had been forgotten. The summer
months had become autumn or winter
months. Caesar corrected these errors,
and nearly all modern nations use the
mode of reckoning time this famous Ro-
man devised. 1t Is known as the Julian
calendar.
Caesar made the year consist of three
hundred and sixty-fve days and six
hours. He divided it into twelve
months, and every fourth or leap year
added a day to consume the hours
unprovided for. His reformed calendar
began the forty-sixth year before Christ,
and the names Of the months were near
ly like our own. January became again
winter, and March and April spring.
The Romans counted their years from
the founding of their city, but about the
seventh or eighth century the Western
Christians began to date from the birth
of Christ. A monk, Dionysius, is said
to have introduced the new method, and
it was sOCn in use among all the West
ern nations.
The Julian calendar was not perfectly
accurate. The true solar year is only
three hundred and siXty-hve days, five
hours, forty-eight minutes, and forty-six
seconds long. The Julian year was
therefore nearly twelve minutes too
long. 1t gained more than three days
every four hundred years, and hence in
1882 what should have been the 18th of
October, dating from the Council of
Nice, 1926 A. D., was known as the 9Th.
Pope Gregory Kill, aided by intelligent
mathematicians, resolved to correct the
error, and provide calendar. that should
be exact for all time. 1t is the one we
now use, and is called fiom him the
Gregorian calendar. 1t omitted ten
days, making the 5th Of October, 1882,
the 18th, and for the future provided
that three days should be dropped in
every four hundred years. The years
day, while the year 1000 will be leap
year. Thus every century not divislble
by four loses one day.
The Gregorian calendar was slowly
adopted in Protestant countries, and has
never Teen adopted in Russia. 1t was
not received in England until 1852.
Eleven days were then omitted from the
month of september, 1751; the I'd was
made the 14th, and the Gregorian meth
cd of computing time became obligatory
over England and English America.
Much opposition was made; the terms
New and Old Style arose, and before
1852 it is always necessary to allow for
the change In the calendar. The New
Style began January l, 1852.
On the 18th of October, 1882, occurred
the three hundredth anniversary Of the
reform introduced by Gregory XIII. 1t
recalls the fact that We are computing
time by method first arranged by Julius
Caesar, and corrected by Gregory, but
whose origin reaches so far back into
the history of man, that we can never
discover what race or what man of sci
eDce first measured this solar year.
Harper's Young Folks.