The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1914-12-31
Interesting Facts
About New Year

Tonight many people will sit up
until midnight to see the passing OF
the old year and the coming OF the
new. Tomorrow we will write 1915
instead of 1914, and another year
will have been added to history.
Everybody knows that year has
3G5 days and that every fourth year
IL the figure is divisible by 4 and in
century years by 400 is leap year
with 3G6 days. A solar year, or the
transition from one vernal equinox to
another, consists OF 365.24244 solar
days, or 365 days, hours. As minutes
and 1886 seconds.
A year Is made up OF twelve cal
endar months, which range in length
from 20 to 81 days. A lunar month
is 20 days, IL hours, A. minutes,
seconds and a small fraction. A
civil day begins at midnight and Is
counted from the first to the twelfth
hour. An astronomical day COM
mences at noon and is counted from
the first to the twenty-fourth hour.
A nautical day is counted as civil
day. but commences at noon like an
astronomical day.
There are two kinds of time
clock or meantime. and apparent or
sun-time. Clock-time is always right,
while sun-time varies every day; the
sun very seldom being on the merid-
Ian at IL o'clock A solar day varies
in length, but mean solar day, as
recorded by clock-time, is "a hours
long.
The year 1915 comprises the latter
mart of the 139th and the beginning
of the 140th year of American inde-
pendence and corresponds to the
year 662S OF the Julian period; the
wear 5675-7G of the Jewish era. the
wear 5676 commencing at sunset Sep
TENDER s: the year 1884 OF the MO-
bammedan era. the year beginning
November 9; the year s66S since the
foundation of Rome, according to
varro; the year 2575 OF the Japanese
era and the 4Gth year of the PERIOD
entitled "Meiji.'
Spring begins March II at 10: 81
a M. summer begins June ~ at
600 n M. autumn begins Septem-
her % at 9:24 p. m. and winter De-
gins December % at 1923 a. m.
The circumstance Of the eclipse
forming the orbit of the earth IS
about 577, 76O, 900 miles and the earth
This distance in about 800 u
DAYS. travelling at the rate OF oo'slo
miles an hour or 1,09S miles a minute
or nearly HOO times as fast as a
train going mile minute. the We
,oc,ty OF bullet is about 24.2 miles
a minute and this great GLOBE WIN
,ts atmosphere and moon, is eternaAis
whizziug through space at an neon
,,a;vah,e rate about forty-hve times
e.-.ar than a bullet fred from rifle.
oni,. two planets move faster than the
earth. While the earth moves at d
.need OF 1888 miles per second, venus
travels 22.e1 and Mercury $500 milei
in that short space OF time.
This coming year Lent begins
E,hr,orv II: Easter comes on April
4 There will be two eclipses 'nis
vear both of the sun. the nrst' an
/, n,p,ar eclipse February IA, and the
an annular on August lo-ll.
>-a;.,,er i. visible in this country.
~ a.,inses occur In series. the nrst
,ne Of which will take place II one
no,a and the last at the OPPOSITE
po, The whole number in a series
Of lunar eclipses covers q period o. Q.
! bout ss5 years. and In the case OF
the sun about 1900 years Two 10
the least number that can occur ~
any one year, and when TINS IS 'n .e
case, both must be or tne sun -
the case this year seven
w. 's-e.tsst number possible in one year
rhon ave vii, be of the sun and TWO
- the moon, as viii be the case IN
1917 and in 1885.