As it is year end, we all are in 31st December let us all know some facts about calendar in detail. This idea is came from my mother, as she has the habit of reading newspaper daily. She just shared the piece of info about calendar and how it came into practice. So let me thank her first and start off the blog.
Actually the word “Calendar” is derived from a Latin word “Kalendae” meaning “The first day of the month.”
The first calendar was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582 October and named as “Gregorian calendar.” Where in Europe they stick to Julian calendar. This was first used by Julius Caesar in 46 B.C.
But Julian calendar has some issues, as the Roman emperor miscalculated the length of the solar year by 11 minutes. The calendar falls out of sync with the seasons.
The calendar of 365 days was began by Zoroastrians in 389 B.C.E. It was founded by Prophet Zoroaster. It consists of twelve 30-days months begin with five “Gatha (Sanskrit term refers to song or verse) days” seventeen days added at the end of the year.
The calendar we use today is Gregorian calendar, it is determined by Earth’s revolution around the sun.
WHY ARE THERE 12 MONTHS IN THE YEAR?
According to the astronomers of Julius Caesar’s, they explained the need for 12 months in a year and addition of leap year based on 12 lunar cycles.
At that time, there were only ten months per year in the calendar. Additionally the month of January and February were added to the calendar. The fifth and sixth months were renamed as July and August in honor to Julius. These months were given 31 days to reflect their importance.
WHY SEVEN DAYS IN A WEEK?
This tradition was adopted from Babylonians and the decree of King Sargon I of Akkad around 2300 BCE. During those times the astronomer can view only seven celestial bodies so it eventually results in seven days in a week. It also believed that God rests on seventh day linked to Judaism and story of Genesis.
WHY IS THE DAY DIVIDED INTO 24 HOURS?
This tradition was adopted from Egyptian. As they were the first one to divide a day into 24 hours, where the first 12 hours as a day from sunrise to sunset and the next 12 hours as night from sunset to sunrise.
WHY ARE MINUTES AND HOURS DIVIDED INTO 60?
The hour was divided into 60 minutes; consisting of 60 seconds per minute. The number 60 was chosen for mathematical convenience. Because number 60 can be divided by a larger number of small numbers without leaving a remainder of the following: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 15, 20 and 30.
Let me summarize the blog by sharing the interesting facts as follows:
Before the adoption of Gregorian calendar, the English New Year was observed as Lady Day on March 25th celebrated as Virgin Mary.
The day Sunday was considered as day of rest by Roman Emperor Constantine. This was did to please both the Christians and pagans.
HOW MONTHS OF YEAR GOT NAMES:
January named after Janus, represent the God of beginnings and endings.
February named after festival februa, represent a period of celebration.
March named after Roman God march.
April, involves three theories as follows: Latin word second; derived from Latin word “Aperire” meaning to open/blossom; and named after Roman God Aphrodite.
May named after Maia, represents earth goddess of growing plants.
June named after Juno, represents queen of Gods and patroness of marriage and weddings.
July named after Julius Caesar in 44 B.C.
August named after Augustus Caesar in 8 B.C.
September derived from Septem Latin word for seven.
October derived from Octo Latin word for eight.
November derived from Novem Latin word for nine.
December derived from Decem Latin word for ten.
Wish you all a HAPPY YEAR:) Keep supporting me...!
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