The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-01-02

Jan. L, ISUI. the year ITUU DftlG the HUH
dredth year of the 10Th century Much
of the confusion which has arisen con-
corning the date of the first day of the
Goth century appears to have grown
out of the change from the Julian to
the Gregorian calendars or from the
impression that the solar day Is con-
siderably longer than the civil or &C.
clesiastical day.
The calendar established by Caius
Julius Caesar, pontifex maximus OF
Rome, during his third consulate. b.
C. AS is known as the old style calen-
dar This system was found to he de-
fectiye in the year 1852, when the Sernal
equinox fell on the 18th instead of the
21st of March. Pope Gregory Nil. Is
said to have discovered the error, and
with the assistance of several learned
men made d complete revocation or IT,
The Encyclopedia Britannica gives the
name of the author of the new system,
afterward known as the Gregorian Sys-
tenn or Gregorian calendar. as Aloysius
Liiius or Luigo Lilo Ghiredi, learned
astronomer and physician of Naples.
The solar or tropical year has been
found to consist of 365 days 5 hours As
minutes and 46-14912 seconds, which,
not being equal to the year OF 300 days
and hours upon which julius Caesar
established the leap year (the difference
being IL minutes IA seconds, amounting
in about 12S years to a whole day.,
ture not at A. d. S25, decreed that that
year, 1852, should consist of 355 days
only. Accordingly 10 days We're dropped
under this decree, Oct. becoming Oct.
Is. And to prevent further lrregularlty
it was determined that year ending
century should not be leap year, with
the exception of the year ending each
fourth century. Thus 100 and 1900 have
not been leap years nor Will 1900 be a
leap year, but the year 1000 will be.
That is, when a cen.esimal year Is d.
yided by 400 without a remainder 1t is
leap year. and when there is a remain
der the year consists of 365 days only.
BY this method of computation three
days are retrenched in 400 years, be-
cause the lapse of IL minutes and IA
seconds makes three days in about that
period. All other years in the century
Invisible by four without remainder
are likewise leap years. The bull which
effected this change was issued FEB. "a
1882. The year of the calendar Is thus
made as nearly as possible to CORE
spond with the true solar year, aud fu-
ture errors in chronology will be avoid
ed as the difference will not amount to
much more than a day in 3,342 vars. or
until 1861 A. D., counting from the Nj
cean council in 325. The quantity as
sumed by the authors of the Gregorlan
calendar as the period of year was 3bo
DAYS hours and 40 minutes, which COR
responds exactly with the reported OBJ
servations of Biencheni and De La Hire,
who lived in the succeeding century. In
| the civil or popular calendar the year
| contains 365 days, with an additional
| day every four years.
In passing it may be added that the
word year has in different periods of
| the worlds history been used to desig-
| nate different periods of time. A year,
| generally speaking, is a period of space
| of time measured by a revolution or
| some celestial body in it's orbit A so
| lar or tropical year is period OF time
| which corresponds to the suns revolu-
| ton in an ecliptic from any equinox or
| solstice to the same origin. The time
| in which the fixed stars make revolu-
| ton is called great year, and the
| periods in which Jupiter, Saturn, the
sun and the moon make their orbits are
called the Jupiter. Saturn, solar and lu-
| mar years. These designations appear
| frequently in the ancient chronology of
| various nations.
Julius Caesar, with Sosigenes IA
| nous Egyptian mathematician, calcu-
| lated the solar year at 1863 days ana SIX
| hours and make allowance for the dill
| ference between his estimate and the
actual time of a solar year, determined
/ upon an INTERPOLATION of one day in
| every four years which. being dnpIi-
cate of the sixth. before the caienas OF
March, was called the bissextile, OF
"twice-sixth" day. That is, the day
answering to the 24th of February was
counted twice, both days having the
same name. This gives us our Leap
year, which leaps, as it We're, one day
more than there are days in the COM
| mon year.
/ On account of religious and clinical
prejudice. the Gregorian calendar did
/ not go into effect for nearly century.
In 1896, according to a noted student OF
chronology. the nations of the earth be-
/ gan to look favorably upon the Gre
/ gorian system. But it was not until
| 1852 that England, Ireland and the col
onies accepted it. By act of parliament
| Great Britain passed a law that the
| day following Sept of 1852 should be
Sept. IA. Nearly all the civilized ma
tions of the earth now use the Gre
| gorian calendar, with the exception oil
| Russia. which still clngs to the Ole
| Julian calendar The difference be
| tween the old and new calendars is j
| days The change from the old tC
the new system has caused many mis-
takes among literary men as Well a.
among the uneducated. who have ap-
| piled the difference of IL days to al
| past time.
In this connection it may be Of inter
| est to many to know that Washington
was born Feb. II. 1872. notwithstanding
that fact we celebrate the anniversary
| of his natal day on Feb. %. emitting
1 1ile IL ddSS. df1bidIIlS ~ tils an VI eit'
| British parliament.
| Tt may be asked at the conclusion o
this brief review. what is the releNanc.
| of this discussion 10 a solution Of tn,
| question When will the twentieth cen
| fury begin?" None whatever unless i
be to refresh the mind of the reader
| with a few data concerning the tw'
| great calendars of history, the Juliar
and Gregoran calendars. As suggest
ed, the solution of the question which
to many may seem frivolous and axio
matte is purely a. matter of arithmetic
and simple arithmetic at that. Th'
| difference between our calendar anf
| the solar measurement of tim,
amounts To only a day in 3,342 years
and that day will not have dawned un
til 1861 A d.