Evening star., 1933-01-01


to the present and the later Roman
reckoning, is among the youngest of the
conventional subdivisions of the year
The carly Romans knew it not. Their
year consisted of but 10 months and, ac-
corCiing to tradition tracing back to
Romulus, one of the legendary twin
founders of the city, began with March
However, by 25l BIC, both January
and February had appeared in the
Roman civil calendar. They long were
supposed to have been introduced by
Numa Pompilius, second King of Rome,
who had for his advisers Pythagoras
and the Camena Egeria.. but the credit
probably belongs to one OF his sue
cessors
When Julius Caesar came. to power he
found that the civil equinox differed
from the astronomical by three months
and that consequently the Winter
months were carried back into Autumn
and the autumnal months into Sum-
mer. He requisitioned the assistance OF
the Greek or Egyptian astronomer
Sosigenes, in an endeavor to regulate
the state calendar entirely by the sun
SoSigenes, skilled in mathematics. solved
the problem to the dictator's satisfac-
ton. The mean length of .the year was
decreed to be 365K4 days. and for prac-
tical purposes every fourth year was
ordered to have 366 days. the others
1865. The first Julian year began with
the first day of January of the 708th
year from the foundation of the city
the 46th before the birth. of Christ.
Changes in Months.
In the distribution of the days
through the several months, Caesar
commanded that the first, third. fifth,
seventh, ninth and eleventh-January
March. May. July, September and No
vember-should have 81 days, the other
months 80, excepting February. which,
he ruled, should have only 90 in COM
The arrangement so determined re-
NAMED in effect until the time OF
Augustus Caesar, when. to crafty i'm
perial vanity the month named for
him was given as many days as July
the month designated to honor his
illustrlous uncle. the first Caesar. Tc
make this adjustment February was
robbed of a day, and, in order that
three months of 81 days might not
come together, September and Novem-
Der were cut to 80 days and October
end December each were given a day
The additional day which occurred
every fourth year was allotted to Feb
ruary and this intercalary day was
known as ''bis-sexto calendas."
The Julian calendar supposed the
year too long by IL minutes and Il
seconds, implying the loss of one day
in every 128 years. Pope Gregory XIII
in an effort to correct the mistake. or.
dered that 10 days be suppressed In
the calendar.
But the reformed Roman scheme ini.
tiated by Julius Caesar and edited By
Augustus and by Gregory XIII meant
nothing in Northern Europe until com.
paratively recent times In England
the year began at Christmas until the
Norman Conquest, when it was changed
to January /. In other countries, II
line with the ancient Jewish system
March Is was the beginning of the
year. 1t was not until the eighteenth
century that the Gregorian calendar
was universally adopted by the nations
of Europe. and even now there are
slight differences still extant.
January's Latin Name.
The Latin name for January wa;
Januarius, or IanuariuS. 1t was derived
from the tWo-faced Roman god Janus
to whose care the month was dedicated
as looking both into the past and the
future, and the deity who was patror
of the beginnings Of all enterprises. He
was a primitive Italic solar divinity
regarded as the doorkeeper of heaven.
The word January came to England
from the old French Janvier. Pro
vencal forms were Januer, Januler
Genovier, Genoyer. Spanish has i
Enero, and Portuguese Janeiro. Italiar
has both Gennajo and Gennaro; Dutch
Januarij and Swedish Januari. Tht
German and Danish form is Januar.
January is not the most important
month of the year in historical como
tationS, but it nevertheless has con-
siderable list of famous events to lts
credit
Port Arthur was taken by the Japa-
nese, January 2, 1902. Benjamin
Franklin discovered electricity. January
8, 1746. The English Channel was
crossed by balloon, January 7, 1875. The
first New York-to-London telephone
call was made January Z, 1927. Presi-
dent Wilson promulgated his celebrated
IA points, January 8. 1918. France oc-
cupied the Ruhr, January IL. 1928
Hundreds lost their lives in japanese
earthquake, January IS, 1924. The
eighteenth amendment went into effect
January l6, 1920. The German Empire
was established, January 18, 1871. Capt
Scott reached the South Pole, January
18. 1912. The Panama Canal was be-
gun by the French, January 20, 1882
Gold was discovered in California, jan
uary %, l. l8. United States troops
left Cologne, January "a, 1923. Paris
was taken nv the Germans January
%, 1871. Primo de Rivera resigned
dictatorship of Spain. January %, 1880
King Charles I was beheaded, January
80, l649. The British corn laws were
repealed, January 81, 1849.
Birthdays of Famous.
January birthdays include those oil