The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1891-05-20
WHAT is LEAP YEAR7
How Julius Caesar and Pope Gregory
XIII. Reformed the Calendar.

1t may be interesting as we'll as in
structive to some to know just what is
meant by leap year, why it is so named,
and what gave rise to its origin, says
c. Beta in the Gadsden Gala. Leader.
the year 46 B. G. by Julius Caesar up
on the supposition that the year con-
sisted of 365 days and hours exactly
but more accurately it is but 365
days hours 4S minutes and fraction
and reckoning three years to consist
of 365 days. gave to the fourth 366.
The day thus intercalated every fourth
year was inserted after the 24th of
February (ante diem sextum kalendas
martiD, and in consequence of being
also reckoned as the sixth day before
the kalends of March was styled bis
sextum, and long afterward bis-sex-
tilem, and hence the year itself is
termed bis-sextilem, or in English leap
year, because it leaps over or exceeds
others by one day.
The mode of reckoning previous to
this time had fallen into much confu-
sion, and this reform was then very
valuable one, and, as it placed the
reckoning behind the sun only about
II minutes a year-that is, a day in
about 130 years-it was very long be-
fore any considerable Inconvenience
arose from it. In the progress of
time, however, the error became more
serious, until in 1882 Pope Gregory
XIII. undertook to reform the calen-
dar. Gregory took as his starting
point the period of the council of Nice,
the first general council of the church
CA. d. $3.50. and, desiring to fix the
vernai equinox permanently on or
near March 81, on which day it hap
pened in that year, and finding that
the reckoning had fingered behind the
sun, in the interval between a. D. 1926
and 1852, at least ten days, he ordered
that the day succeeding the 4th of
October, 1882, instead of being called
the 5th should be called the 18th. And
to prevent similar accumulations of
error thereafter he further directed
that at certain convenient periods the
intercalary day of the Julian correc-
tion be omitted, viz: In the centurial
years of A. d. 100, 1900 and 1900, and
being inserted again in 2000, should
be again left out in 2100. 2200 and
2300, and again inserted in 2400. etc.
thus reducing the error OF the u ul1an
correction to 2 hours ~ 1-2 minutes in
400 years, OF one day in 1916 years.
which he reasonably thought the world
could afford to disregard.
The Gregorian calendar was adopted
Immediately in all countries of the
Romish faith, but in the Protestant
states it was not introduced until
almost two centuries later, such was
the unreasoning bigotry of the times.
And Russia, to this day, employs the
Julian calendar, making a difference
of about twelve days between her mode
of computing time and that OF the rest
of the Christian world. The Grego-
rian calendar and mode of oomputa-
tion were adopted in England and in
the English dominions throughout the
world, and therefore in the United
States in 1854 by statute which en-
acted that the natural day next follow
ing the 2nd day of September in that
year should be reckoned the 18th day
of September, emitting for that time
the eleven intermediate days (the
error of the Julian correction having,
since 1912, amounted to another day),
and provision was made identical with
that of Gregory, for maintaining the
correction through subsequent cent
urieS