Calendar Timeline in process
Solar Year= 365.2421896698 days.
(SFC, 11/29/03, p.D2)
Caitra is the 1st month of the Indian calendar and corresponds to March in the Gregorian calendar. Phalguna is the last.
Solar Year= 365.2421896698 days.
(SFC, 11/29/03, p.D2)
Caitra is the 1st month of the Indian calendar and corresponds to March in the Gregorian calendar. Phalguna is the last.
Notes & Queries, Guardian Weekly:
Of time past, time present and all of that heaviness. The past goes all the way back. The future goes on for ever. How long is the present?
As long as it takes the brain to realize that what just happened has passed.
Vincent Buytaert, Ghent, Belgium
Quicker than one can formulate the thought "right now", it is already gone. The present is the point that separates anticipation from retrospection.
Paul Roth, Dunedin, New Zealand
Very, very short. If it were twice as long as that, the universe would be twice as heavy. If the past were still there, the universe would be very, very heavy, and getting much heavier every very, very short moment.
Les Meek, Wellington, New Zealand
Just as a point has geometrical position and no area, the present has time position between past and future but no duration.
Dennis Roddy, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada
The past and the future don't exist. It is the present that goes on for ever.
Alan Stockbridge, Tuebingen, Germany
The present doesn't exist; only the future and the past do.
Jake Sigg, San Francisco, California, US
As long as it holds your attention to unwrap it.
Jill Day, Katoomba, NSW, Australia
There is no time like the present.
Ivan Fellowes, Cammeray, NSW, Australia
Jake Sigg Newsletter 6/29/09
432 BC An Athenian devised a 19-year "Metatonic cycle" to reconcile the lunar and solar years.
(SFC, 11/29/03, p.D2)
47BC Julius Caesar adopted a modified form of the Egyptian Calendar. Together with Sosigenes, an astronomer from Alexandria, the new calendar spreads the last 5-6 days of the Egyptian calendar amongst alternate months. March 1 began the year as a carry over from the old Roman calendar.
(K.I.-365D, p.84)
46BC The Julian calendar was introduced by Julius Caesar (708 AUC). It was a reform of the Roman calendar and took effect January 1, 45 BC (709 AUC).
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_calendar)
45BC Jan 1, The Julian calendar took effect. The year -45 has been called the "year of confusion," because in that year Julius Caesar inserted 90 days to bring the months of the Roman calendar back to their traditional place with respect to the seasons. This was Caesar's first step in replacing a calendar that had gone badly awry.
(http://astro.nmsu.edu/~lhuber/leaphist.html)
45BC Feb 29, The first Leap Day was recognized by proclamation of Julius Caesar. Under the old Roman calendar the last day of February was the last day of the year.
(HN, 2/29/00)
44BC The month of Quintilis was changed to Julius in honor of Julius Caesar. It had been the fifth month in the earliest calendar attributed to Romulus, which began with Martius and had 10 months. After a calendar reform that produced a 12-month year, Quintilis became the seventh month, but retained its name A bright comet was declared by the Romans to be the soul of Julius Caesar ascending to join the gods.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quintilis)(SFC, 3/28/97, p.A12)
1BC Mar 1, Start of the revised Julian calendar in Rome.
(SC, 3/1/02)
552 Jul 10, Origin of Armenian calendar.
(MC, 7/10/02)
622 24-Sep, In the Hegira Muhammed left Mecca for Medina (aka Yathrib) with 75 followers. This event marked the beginning of the Islamic lunar calendar. The new faith was called "Islam," which means submission to Allah. Believers in Islam are called Muslims-- "Those who submit to Allah's will." In Medina Mohammad tried to unite the Jews and Arabs and initially faced Jerusalem to pray. The Jewish leaders did not accept Mohammad as a prophet and so Mohammad expelled from the city the Jews who opposed him. From then on he commanded the Muslims to face the Kaaba in Mecca when praying.
(V.D.-H.K.p.19)(ATC, p.60)
1576 The basilica of San Petronio was erected by Egnatio Danti, a mathematician and Dominican friar who worked for Cosimo I dei Medici, the Grand Duke of Tuscany. The structure included a solar observatory. Danti also advised Pope Gregory on calendar reform.
(SFC, 10/25/99, p.A4)
1582 Feb 24, Pope Gregory XIII issued a papal bull, or edict, outlining his calendar reforms. The old Julian Calendar had an error rate of one day in every 128 years. This was corrected in the Gregorian Calendar of Pope Gregory XIII, but Protestant countries did not accept the change till 1700 and later. [see 1552 and Oct 4, 1582]
(HFA, '96, p.22)(TL-MB, 1988, p.23)(HN, 6/7/98)(SFEC, 2/20/00, Par p.7)(AP, 2/24/02)
1582 Oct 4, The Church Council at Trent, Italy, discussed the error of 10 days in the calendar as referenced to the spring equinox which was used to establish the date for Easter. Pope Gregory announced a correction, "The Gregorian Adjustment," and had Oct. 4 followed by Oct. 15. The calendar is accurate to a day in 3,323 years. [see 1552]
(K.I.-365D, p.97)(NG, March 1990, J. Boslough)(SFEC, 2/20/00, Par p.7)
1582 Oct 5, The Gregorian calendar was introduced in Italy, other Catholic countries. Nothing happened. This day was skipped and became Oct 15 to bring the calendar into sync by order of the Council of Trent. In 1998 David Ewing Duncan published "Calendar: Humanity’s Epic Struggle to Determine a True and Accurate Year." In Bohemia the anti-Gregorian astronomer Michael Mestlin proclaimed that the pope was stealing 10 days from everyone’s life. [see Sep 3, 1752]
(K.I.-365D, p.97)(NG, March 1990)(SFEC, 9/27/98, BR p.5)(MC, 10/5/01)
1582 Oct 5-14, The days when nothing happened.
(SFEC, 9/27/98, BR p.5)
1582 Oct 15, The Gregorian (or New World) calendar was adopted in Italy, France, Luxembourg, Spain, and Portugal; and the preceding ten days were lost to history. This day followed Oct 4 to bring the calendar into sync. by order of the Council of Trent. Oct 5-14 were dropped.
(K.I.-365D, p.97)(NG, March 1990, J. Boslough)(HN, 10/15/98)(SFEC, 10/3/99, Par p.27)
1582 Prolaptic Gregorian calendar: This refers to years, months, etc. as if the Gregorian calendar had been in use since the beginning of time; specifically before 1582.
1584 Jan 7, This was the last day of the Julian calendar in Bohemia & Holy Roman empire. The 1582 Gregorian (or New World) calendar was adopted by this time in Belgium, most of the German Roman Catholic states and the Netherlands.
(SFEC, 10/3/99, Par p.27)(MC, 1/7/02)
1700 Jan 1, Russia replaced the Byzantine with the Julian calendar, which remained in effect until the adoption of the Gregorian calendar in 1918.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etos_Kosmou)
1752 Sep 3, The Gregorian Adjustment to the calendar was put into effect in Great Britain and the American colonies followed. At this point in time 11 days needed to be accounted for and Sept. 2 was selected to be followed by Sept. 14. People rioted thinking the government stole 11 days of their lives. [see Oct 5, 1582]
(K.I.-365D, p.97)(SFEC, 9/27/98, BR p.5)(MC, 9/3/01)
1864 Scottish author W.R. chambers published “Book of Days: A Miscellany of Popular Antiquities in Connection with the Calendar, Including Anecdote, Biography, & History, Curiosities of Literature and Oddities of Human Life and Character."
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chambers_Book_of_Days)
1870 Jun 26, Christmas was made a federal holiday in the US.
(www.thehistoryofchristmas.com/ch/in_america.htm)(Econ, 12/15/12, p.34)
1912 Apr 15, Kim Il Sung, North Korea's communist founder and leader (1948-1994), was born. In 1997 this date marked year one in the North Korean calendar.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Korean_calendar)(Econ, 8/15/15, p.13)
1918 Jan 31, Russia joined the rest of the world and adopted the Gregorian calendar. The next day became February 14, 1918.
(www.ortelius.de/kalender/greg_en.php)
1920 Mar 4, Last day of Julian civil calendar in Greece.
(SC, 3/4/02)
1929 Joseph Stalin reset the Soviet calendar to give workers every 5th day off. Shifts were staggered so that factories could run without interruption. The staggered working week was abandoned after 3 years.
(Econ, 5/21/05, p.80)
1940 Jun 27, USSR returned to the Gregorian calendar.
(SC, 6/27/02)
1986 Danny Hillis began thinking and working on a 10,000 Year Clock. After some years Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com provided assistance and the clock began taking shape inside a mountain in West Texas. The first prototype of the clock began working on December 31, 1999.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clock_of_the_Long_Now)
1999 E.G. Richards authored "Mapping Time: The Calendar and Its History."
(SFC, 11/29/03, p.D2)
2000 Bonnie Blackburn and Leofranc Holford-Stevens compiled "The Oxford Companion to the Year."
(SFEC, 2/20/00, Par p.7)
2010 Apr 4, A US-Russian space team sent their Easter greetings down to Earth after their Soyuz spacecraft docked flawlessly at the International Space Station. The rotating calendars of the Christian West and the Christian East agreed on the same date for Easter.
(AP, 4/4/10)(Econ, 4/3/10, p.85)
2011 Dec 30, At midnight on Dec 29 Samoa leaped to Dec 31 to align itself with trading partners. For the country’s 186,000 citizens, Dec 30, 2011 will simply not exist.
(SFC, 12/29/11, p.A2)
2012 May 18, It was reported that Saudi Arabia has banned all government and private agencies from using the Gregorian calendar in official dealings. The use the English language to answer calls or communicate, mainly in companies and hotels, has also been banned in an effort to preserve the Arabic language.
(SSFC, 5/20/12, p.A4)
2015 Feb 18, The Chinese New Year holiday began today due to the insertion of a lunar leap month last year.
(Econ, 2/14/15, p.40)
Days of the Year
Jan 3, Grizzly bear cubs are born around this date.
(SFEC, 4/20/97, Z1 p.5)
Jan 6, Traditional day of the Epiphany, the day that the three kings, Melchior, Gaspar and Balthazar brought to Jesus gifts of Gold, Incense and Myrhh.
(Cafe Clovis, SF, 1/4/98)
Jan 7, In 2000 some 200 million Orthodox Christians observed Christmas according to the old Julian calendar.
(SFC, 1/7/97, p.A9)(SFC, 1/8/00, p.C1)
Jan 11, National Thankyou Day in the US.
(HFA, '96, p.22)
Jan 17, St. Anthony’s day.
(Hem., 3/97, p.74)
Jan 20, St. Sebastian’s day.
(Hem., 3/97, p.74)
Jan 23, US National Handwriting Day in honor of John Hancock and his signature on the US Declaration of Independence: "I'll sign it in letters bold enough so the King of England can see it without his spectacles on!"
(MC, 1/23/02)
Jan 26, India celebrates its Republic Day, a national holiday to mark the adoption of its constitution (1950).
(Econ, 1/24/09, p.50)
February = Phalguna, the last month of the Indian calendar.
(SFC, 11/29/03, p.D2)
Feb 2, Candlemas day. Candles are blessed in honor of the presentation of the baby Jesus in the Temple and the purification of the Virgin Mary. The French of long ago believed that pancakes eaten on this day prevented hemorrhoids.
(WUD, 1994, p.216)(SFC, 1/17/98, p.C5)
Feb 2, Groundhog Day [see 1887]
Feb 12, Clean out your computer day.
(HFA, '96, p.24)
Mar 20, The International Day of Happiness. It was established by the United Nations General Assembly on 28 June 2012.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Day_of_Happiness)(Econ, 11/24/12, p.68)
Mar 21, World Poetry Day. It was declared by UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) in 1999.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Poetry_Day)(Econ, 11/24/12, p.68)
March Easter is the Sunday after the Paschal full moon, which may occur any time from Mar 21 through Apr 18. Thus the date for Easter may be any time from March 22 to April 25 inclusive. The date of the Paschal full moon is determined from tables and it may differ from the date of the actual full moon by as much as 2 days.
(SFC, 12/27/04, p.C10)
March Caitra, the 1st month of the Indian Calendar.
(SFC, 11/29/03, p.D2)
Apr 5, Lava Lamp Day was celebrated in 1965.
(MC, 4/5/02)
Apr 7, In 1795 the National Convention of Revolutionary France put into effect a new calendar system, similar to that of ancient Egypt. The year began with the autumn equinox, and had 360 days divided into twelve months of thirty days. Five extra days were placed at the end of the year. The months were divided into three 10 day groups. The day was divided into 10 new hours, each hour into 100 minutes, and each minute into 100 seconds.
(K.I.-365D, p.42)
April 19-25, Icelanders, using the old Norse calendar celebrate the beginning of summer, Summardagurinn Fyrsti, on the first Thursday between April 19 and 25.
(SSFC, 4/15/12, p.P3)
May 17, National Day in Norway.
(Econ, 5/29/04, p.54)
May 29, Saint’s day of Theodosia, martyred in 729 in Constantinople.
(Ot, 1993, p.1)
May, The 40th day after Easter Sunday is celebrated by Catholics as the Feast of the Ascension.
(www.newadvent.org/cathen/01767b.htm)
Jun 1, The Atlantic hurricane season begins.
(HFA, '96, p.32)
Jun 24, St. John’s feast day.
(DrEE, 9/28/96, p.1)
Jun 14 This is Flag Day in the US.
Jul 25, The Greek Isle of Tilos celebrates the feast of St. Pandeleimon.
(SSFC, 2/14/04, p.D6)
Jul 30, The International Day of Friendship. On 27 April 2011 the General Assembly of the United Nations declared 30 July as official International Friendship Day.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Friendship_Day)(Econ, 11/24/12, p.68)
Aug 16
Aug 17
Aug 18
Aug 19
Aug 20
Aug 21
Aug 22
Aug 23
Aug 24
Aug 25
Aug 26
Aug 27 The birthday of Confucius.
(CFA, '96, p.52)
The first commercial oil well was set up in 1859.
(HFA, '96, p.36)
Aug 28 The first oil well was drilled in 1859.
(CFA, '96, p.52)
The first radio commercial was in 1922.
(HFA, '96, p.36)
Aug 29 St. John the Baptist was killed c. 29AD.
(HFA, '96, p.36)
Aug 30 The first flight of the space shuttle Discovery in 1984.
(HFA, '96, p.36)
Aug 31 William Saroyan was born in 1908.
(HFA, '96, p.36)
SEPTEMBER
Sept. 1 World War II began in 1939,
(CFA, '96, p.54)
The KAL flight 007 was downed in 1983 by Soviet fighters.
(HFA, '96, p.38) (TMC, 1994, p.1983)
Sept. 2 The Great Fire of London occurs in 1666.
(CFA, '96, p.54)
Sept. 3 The Trans-Canada Highway opens in 1962.
(CFA, '96, p.54)
Frederick Douglass, American Negro abolitionist, escaped in 1838.
(HFA, '96, p.38) (AHD, 1971, p.394)
Sept. 4 Los Angeles was founded in 1781.
(HFA, '96, p.38)
Sept. 5 The birthday of Cardinal Richelieu.
(CFA, '96, p.54)
The St. Gotthard tunnel in Switzerland was opened in 1980.
(HFA, '96, p.38)
Sept. 6 The Baltic States gain independence in 1991.
(HFA, '96, p.38)
Sept. 7 Brazil becomes an independent nation in 1822.
(HFA, '96, p.38)
Sept. 8 The birthday of Peter Stuyvesant.
(CFA, '96, p.54)
The siege of Malta was broken in 1565.
(HFA, '96, p.38)
Sept. 9 The Battle of Marathon occurred in 490BC.
(HFA, '96, p.38)
Sept. 10 The sewing machine was patented in 1846.
(CFA, '96, p.54)
Sept. 11 The birthday of O Henry.
(CFA, '96, p.54)
Sept. 13 Jesse Owens was born in 1913. He was multi-gold medal winner at the 1936 Olympic games at Berlin.
(HFA, '96, p.38)(AHD, 1971, p.938)
Sept. 13 The Battle of Quebec was fought in 1759.
(CFA, '96, p.54)
British troops bombard Ft. McHenry, and Francis Scott Key composes the Star Spangled Banner in 1814.
New York City was made the capital of the US in 1788.
(HFA, '96, p.38)
Sept. 14 Dante died in 1321.
(HFA, '96, p.38)
Sept. 15 Greenpeace was founded in 1971.
(HFA, '96, p.38)
Sept. 16 Lt. Gen. Lord Charles Cornwallis directs the sinking of a fleet of ships at Yorktown to block a French landing and keep them out of enemy hands in 1781.
(NG, 6/1988, p.806)
Sept. 16 Independence Day in Mexico.
(SFE, 9/16/96, p.A21)
Sept. 17 Union forces turn back the Confederate army at Antietam in 1862.
(SFE Mag., 2/12/95, p. 30)
The US Constitution was approved in 1787.
(HFA, '96, p.38)
Sept. 18 The US Air Force becomes a separate service.
(HFA, '96, p.38)
Sept. 19 An earthquake hit Mexico City in 1985.
(HFA, '96, p.38)
Sept. 20 The birthday of Alexander the Great.
(CFA, '96, p.54)
The Panic of 1873. A financial panic hits the US when the high-flying bond dealer, Jay Cooke, grants too many loans to the railroads.
(HFA, '96, p.38)(WSJ, 2/27/95, p.A-10)
Sept. 21
Sept. 22 The first all woman jury in the colonies was in 1656.
(HFA, '96, p.38)
Sept. 23 The birthday of Caesar Augustus.
(CFA, '96, p.54)
Neptune was discovered in 1846.
(HFA, '96, p.38)
Sept. 24 F. Scott Fitzgerald was born in 1896. [see 1896-1940, Fitzgerald]
(HFA, '96, p.38)
Sept. 25 Balboa discovered the Pacific Ocean in 1513.
(HFA, '96, p.38)
Sept. 26 The birthday of George Gershwin.
(CFA, '96, p.54)
The release of the Beatles last album, Let It Be, was in 1969. Beatles Forever has the date as May 1970.
(HFA, '96, p.38)(Beatles Forever, 1995, p. 58)
Sept. 27 The Warren Commission Report was released. The Warren Commission announced that according to its findings Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone as did Jack Ruby in the assassination of Pres. John F. Kennedy.
(WSJ, 5/17/95, p.A-18) (HFA, '96, p.38)
Sept. 28 California was discovered in 1542.
(HFA, '96, p.38)
Sept. 29 The first London "bobbies" appeared in 1829.
(HFA, '96, p.38)
Sept. 30 J.B. Aristide, elected President of Haiti, was deposed by a military junta in 1991.
(HFA, '96, p.38)
OCTOBER
Fighting and mating season for the southern elephant seals.
(NH, 5/96, p.70)
Oct. 1 The first "Model T" Ford was build in 1908.
(CFA, '96, p.56)
The Allies took Naples in 1943.
(HFA, '96, p.40)
Oct. 3 18 US Rangers & Delta Force specialists die in Somalia in 1993.
(WSJ, 10/23/95, p.A-18)
Gandhi was born in 1869.
(HFA, '96, p.40)
Oct. 4 The Russian White House was shelled in 1993.
(HFA, '96, p.40)
Oct. 5 Native American Indian Chief Joseph surrendered in 1877.
(HFA, '96, p.40)
Oct. 6 Egyptian and Syrian forces attack Israel on Yom Kippur in 1973.
(TL-MB, p.21)
[Egyptian Pres.] Anwar Sadat, was assassinated in 1981.
(HFA, '96, p.40)
Oct. 7
Oct. 8 The Great Chicago Fire began in 1871.
(HFA, '96, p.40)
Oct. 9 Uganda became independent in 1962
(HFA, '96, p.40)
Oct. 10 Giuseppi Verdi was born in 1813. [see 1813-1901, Verdi]
(HFA, '96, p.40)
Oct. 11 Columbus first saw the New World in 1492. [some discrepancy here]
(HFA, '96, p.40)
Oct. 12 Columbus sited an island in the Bahamas now called Guanahani in 1492.
(V.D.-H.K.p.176)
The Magellan spacecraft crashed into Venus in 1994.
(TV, 10/17/95)
Oct 12, In Venezuela Pres. Chaves this day is celebrated as Indigenous Resistance Day. Previously the holiday was called Día de la Raza, commemorating the arrival of Christopher Columbus to the Americas.
(Econ, 1/17/09, p.41)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_holidays_in_Venezuela)
Oct. 13 The birthday of Margaret Thatcher.
(CFA, '96, p.56)
Boston was photographed from the air in 1860.
(HFA, '96, p.40)
Oct. 14 Dwight D. Eisenhower was born in 1890. [see 1890-1969, Eisenhower]
(HFA, '96, p.40)
Oct. 15 The birthday of Virgil.
(CFA, '96, p.56)
Final tax deadline in the US following extensions.
(WSJ)
Oct. 16 The birthday of Noah Webster 1758-1843, American lexicographer.
(CFA, '96, p.56)(AHD, 1971, p.1452)
Tax deadline for written acknowledgement of charitable gift of > $250.00
(WSJ)
Marie Antoinette was beheaded in 1793.
(HFA, '96, p.40)
Oct. 17 A strong earthquake hit San Francisco in 1989.
(HFA, '96, p.40)
Oct. 18 The birthday of Pierre Trudeau.
(CFA, '96, p.56)
The first German War Crimes Trial began in 1945.
(HFA, '96, p.40)
Oct. 19 Cornwallis surrenders in 1781 and the American Revolution was won.
(NG, 6/1988, p.808)
Don Cherry, jazz trumpeter died in 1995.
(WSJ, 10/23/95, p.A-1)
General Sheridan retook Cedar Creek in 1864.
(HFA, '96, p.40)
Oct. 20
Oct. 22 The birthday of Sarah Bernhardt.
(CFA, '96, p.56)
Oct 23 The death of St. John of Capistrano. Also the scheduled departure date for the swallows of San Juan Capistrano.
(HT, 3/97, p.63)
Oct. 24 At the San Francisco Conference chaired by the State Department's Alger Hiss, the United Nations was born in 1945. [See 1945 June 26, UN charter signed in SF]
(CFA, '96, p.56)(TMC, 1994, p.1945)
The United Nations organized a cease fire for the Arab-Israeli War of 1973.
(TL-MB, p.21)
Black Thursday on Wall Street in 1929.
(HFA, '96, p.40)
Oct. 25 The birthday of Pablo Picasso.
(CFA, '96, p.56)
The first female FBI agents in 1972.
(HFA, '96, p.40)
Oct. 26 The Erie Canal was opened in 1825.
(HFA, '96, p.40)
Oct. 27
Oct. 28 The birthday of Jonas Salk.
(CFA, '96, p.56)
The first US female ambassador was appointed in 1949.
(HFA, '96, p.40)
Oct. 29 Turkey became a Republic in 1923.
(HFA, '96, p.40)
Oct. 30 War of the Worlds was broadcast in 1938.
(HFA, '96, p.40)
Oct 31, Halloween is a festival of Scottish-Irish origin held on All Hallows Eve, the night of October 31, the eve of All Saints Day. Elements of the customs associated with Halloween can be traced to a Druid ceremony of pre-Christian times. In Britain and Ireland, the Celtic festival of Samhain, the god of the dead, was held November 1, the beginning of the Celtic New Year. The occasion was celebrated with a fire festival, when huge bonfires were set on hilltops to frighten away evil spirits. This was the time to placate the supernatural powers controlling the natural process. This was also thought to be the time most favorable for divination concerning marriage, luck, health and death. This was the only day the devil’s help was invoked for such purposes.
When the Romans conquered Britain in the first century A.D., their fall harvest festival, Poloma Day, mixed with the traditions of Samhain to form a major fall festival at the end of October. After the spread of Christianity through the west, the Roman Catholic Church in 835 A.D. made November 1 a church holiday to honor all the saints. This celebration was called All Saint's Day or All Hallows and the day before it--October 31--was called All Hallow's Eve. The Halloween celebrated today includes all these influences. In the 11th century November 2 was specified as All Soul’s Day to honor the souls of the dead, particularly those who had died the preceding year.
In Europe, during medieval times and later, elves, fairies and witches (who occasionally took the shape of cats) were believed to fly on All Hallows Eve, and bonfires were lit to ward off these spirits. Laughing bands of guisers (young people disguised in grotesque masks) carved lanterns from turnips and carried them through the villages. Halloween was also a time for games and rituals involving methods of foretelling the future. Through such methods as apple paring thrown over the shoulder or nuts burned in the fire, young people tried to determine their marital prospects.
Immigrants to the United States, particularly Irish, introduced secular Halloween costumes which became popular in the 19th century. The Irish belief that fairies and elves played pranks on Halloween led boys and young men to carry out practical jokes, such as putting a buggy on a roof, overturning sheds and outhouses and breaking windows. Property damage was sometimes severe. In the 20th century, Halloween came to be observed mainly by small children, who dress in costume and proceed from house to house demanding "trick or treat," but a trick is rarely played and--remember--a treat always given.
(Historynet, 10/31/98)(HNPD, 10/31/98)
NOVEMBER
Nov 1 All Hallows or All Saints Day.
(HFA, '96, p.18,42)
Nov 2 Marie Antoinette was born in 1755. [see 1755-1793, M. Antoinete]
(CFA, '96, p.58)
The first radio station was set up in 1920.
(CFA, '96, p.58)
All Souls Day, the birthday of Daniel Boone, born 1734.
(HFA, '96, p.18,42)
South Dakota became the 40th US state in 1889.
(HFA, '96, p.42)
Nov 3 There was a Revolution in Panama in 1903.
(HFA, '96, p.42)
Nov 4 The birthday of Will Rogers, born in 1879.
(HFA, '96, p.18)
Walter Cronkite’s (b.1916) birthday. In 1981 he won the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He anchored the evening news on CBS from 1961-1981.
(SFEC, 11/10/96, zone 1 p.3)
The US Embassy was taken over by Iranian students in 1979.
(HFA, '96, p.42)
Nov 5 Guy Fawkes day. After persuasion on the rack in the White Tower of London, confessed to trying to blow up Parliament in the Gunpowder Plot of 1605
(NG, V184, No. 4, Oct. 1993, p. 54) (HFA, '96, p.18)
Nov 6 The birthday of John Philip Sousa.
(CFA, '96, p.58)
Tchaikovsky died in 1893.
(HFA, '96, p.18)
The Tammany Hall officials lost in 1894. [see 1894, Nov 6, Tammany Hall]
(HFA, '96, p.42)
Nov 7 Lewis and Clark reached the Pacific Ocean in 1805.
(HFA, '96, p.42)
The birthday of Madame Curie in 1867.
(CFA, '96, p.58)(AHD, p.323)
The Canadian Pacific Railroad reaches the Pacific Ocean in 1885.
(CFA, '96, p.58)
The Russian Revolution of 1917.
(CFA, '96, p.58)
Japan attacks Pearl Harbor in 1941.
(CFA, '96, p.60)
Nov 8 Montana became the 41st state in 1889.
(HFA, '96, p.18)
Roentgen discovered X-rays in 1895.
(HFA, '96, p.18)
Nov 9 Kristallnacht in Germany in 1938.
(HFA, '96, p.18)
A major power failure hits the East Coast of the US in 1965.
(HFA, '96, p.42)
Nov 10 Stanley found Livingston in 1871.
(HFA, '96, p.42)
The US Marine Corps was established in 1775.
(HFA, '96, p.18)
Nov 11 Armistice was signed in 1918 [end of World War I]. The Germans gave up and World War I ended. Timed for the 11th hr. of the 11th day of the 11th month.
(V.D.-H.K.p.268,291)(CFA, '96, p.58)(SFC, 11/9/96, p.A16)
Veteran's Day.
(HFA, '96, p.18)
Washington became the 42nd state in 1889.
(HFA, '96, p.18)
Nov 12 The birthday of Sun Yat-Sen, born (trad) in 1866.
(HFA, '96, p.18)
Princess Grace was born in 1929. [Grace Kelly, movie star]
(HFA, '96, p. 42)
The San Francisco Bay Bridge opened in 1936. It cost $78 million and was the longest bridge ever attempted.
(SFC, 11/11/96, p.A13)
Nov 13 Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894), author of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, "Treasure Island" and many other books was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. "Robert Louis Stevenson: Interviews and Recollections" was ed. by R.C. Terry and published in 1996.
(Smith., 8/95, p.54)(SFC, 9/1/96, Par. p.12)
Nov 13 The first US African-American mayor was elected. Carl Stokes became the first black US mayor of a major US city.
(HFA, '96, p. 42) (TMC, 1994, p.1967)
Nov 13 In 1995 a US facility in Saudi Arabia was bombed. The explosion shattered the Saudi National Guard training center, and killed 5 Americans and 2 Indians. Four Saudi citizens were beheaded on May 31, 1996 for the bombing.
(SFC, 6/1/96, p.A12)
Nov 14 The first blood transfusion was performed in 1666.
(HFA, '96, p.42)
Mamie Doud Eisenhower (b.Nov 14, 1896-1979), wife of former Pres. “Ike" Eisenhower.
(SFEC, 11/17/96, p.C14)
The birthday of Prince Charles.
(CFA, '96, p.58)
The Dow Jones first tops 1000 in 1972.
(HFA, '96, p.18)
The birthday of Robert Fulton.
(CFA, '96, p.58)
Nov 15 Georgia O'Keefe was born on this day in 1887 and died in 1986.
(HFA, '96, p.42) (SFC, 5/12/96, p.T-7)
Brazil became a republic in 1889.
(HFA, '96, p.18)
Nov 16 Skylab IV was launched in 1973.
(HFA, '96, p.18)
Oklahoma became the 46th US state in 1907.
(HFA, '96, p.42)
Nov 17 The Suez Canal was opened in 1869.
(CFA, '96, p.58)
Nov 18 The US established universal time zones in 1883.
(HFA, '96, p.18)
The Battle of Vertieres was in 1803.
(HFA, '96, p.42)
Nov 19 The birthday of James A. Garfield (1831-1881), the 20th Pres. of the US. He was assassinated in July by Charles J. Guiteau, who wished to be appointed consul to France.
(CFA, '96, p.58)(WUD, 1994, p.584)(A&IP, ESM, p.96b, photo,110)
2012 Nov 19, World Toilet Day. It was created in 2001 to raise global awareness of the daily struggle for proper sanitation.
(Econ, 11/24/12, p.68)(http://www.worldtoiletday.org/)
Nov 20 Elizabeth II married Phillip in 1947.
(HFA, '96, p.42)
Nov 21 The Alaska-Canadian Highway was opened in 1942.
(HFA, '96, p.42)
Nov 21, World Television Day. The UN General Assembly proclaimed 21 November as World Television Day (through resolution 51/205 of 17 December 1996).
(Econ, 11/24/12, p.68)(http://www.un.org/en/events/televisionday/)
Nov 22 Jack London, writer, died of a kidney disease in 1916. He had written 50 books that included “Call of the Wild" and “White Fang."
(SFC, 11/20/96, p.A17)
Trans-Pacific mail service was established in 1935.
(HFA, '96, p.18)
The assassination of John F. Kennedy was in 1963.
(PBS radio)
Nov 23 Billy the Kid was born in 1859. William H. Bonney, US outlaw, 1859-1881. A ballet titled Billy the Kid by Aaron Copland was written in 1938.
(HFA, '96, p.42)(WUD, 1994, p.148)
Nov 24 The US left the Philippines in 1992.
(HFA, '96, p.18)
Louis Malle, French film director, died of Lymphoma in 1995.
(WSJ, 11/27/95, p.A-1)
"The Battle Above the Clouds" began in 1863.
(HFA, '96, p.42)
Nov 25 The birthday of Andrew Carnegie.
(CFA, '96, p.58)
The 55 mph speed limit was imposed in 1973.
(HFA, '96, p.42)
Nov 26 The first Thanksgiving Day was in 1789.
(HFA, '96, p.42)
Nov 27 Chaim Weizmann was born in 1874. He was an Israeli chemist and Zionist leader and the first president of Israel from 1948-1952.
(HFA, '96, p.42)(WUD, 1994, p.1619)
Nov 28 William Blake, English artist-printer, was born in London in 1757.
(LS MAG, Spring 1995, p.17)
Nov 29 The Czechs end Communist rule in 1989.
(HFA, '96, p.18)
Admiral Byrd flew over the South Pole in 1929. He had flown over the north pole on 1926 with Floyd Bennett.
(HFA, '96, p.42)
Nov 30 The birthday of Winston Churchill. (CFA, '96, p.58)
Mark Twain was born in 1835. (HFA, '96, p.18)
DECEMBER
Dec. 1 The National Day of Romania.
(WSJ, 11/6/95, p.B-8F)
Iceland became independent in 1918.
(HFA, '96, p.20)
Rosa Parks was arrested in 1955.
(HFA, '96, p.44)
The United Arab Emirates was formed in 1971.
(HFA, '96, p.20)
Dec. 2 John Brown was hanged in 1859.
(HFA, '96, p.44)
Dec. 3 Illinois became the 21st state of the US in 1818.
(HFA, '96, p.20)
Robert Louis Stevenson died on this day in 1894.
(Smith., 8/95, p.53)
The Bhopal poison gas disaster was in 1984.
(HFA, '96, p.44)
Dec. 4 Thomas Carlyle, English essayist and historian, was born in 1795.
(HFA, '96, p.20)(AHD, p.204)
The National Grange was founded in 1867. It was a US lodge for promoting the interests of agriculture.
(HFA, '96, p.44)(WUD, 1994, p.615)
Dec. 5 The birthday of Walt Disney.
(CFA, '96, p.60)
Columbus discovered Haiti in 1492.
(HFA, '96, p.20)
The US Montgomery Bus Boycott began in 1955.
(HFA, '96, p.44)
Dec. 6 The Halifax Disaster occurred in 1917.
(CFA, '96, p.60)
Quito, Ecuador, was founded in 1534.
(HFA, '96, p.20)
St. Nicholas day in Turkey.
(WSJ, 8/31/98, p.B1)
Dec. 7 Pearl Harbor was bombed in 1941.
(HFA, '96, p.44)
Dec 7, International Civil Aviation Day. In 1996 the UN General Assembly proclaimed December 7 as International Civil Aviation Day.
(www.timeanddate.com/holidays/un/international-civil-aviation-day)(Econ, 11/24/12, p.68)
Dec. 8 The birthday of Eli Whitney [inventor of the cotton gin, see 1765-1825].
(CFA, '96, p.60)
The birthday of Mario Savio (1943-1996), founder of the Berkeley Free Speech Movement in 1964.
(SFC, 11/7/96, p.A15)
Dec 9, Int’l. Anti-Corruption Day. On 31 October 2003, the General Assembly adopted the United Nations Convention against Corruption and requested that the Secretary-General designate the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) as secretariat for the Convention’s Conference of States Parties (resolution 58/4).
(Econ, 12/15/12, p.61)(www.un.org/en/events/anticorruptionday/)
Dec 9 The Convention on Genocide was in 1948.
(HFA, '96, p.44)
Dec. 10 Missouri became the 20th state of the US in 1817.
(HFA, '96, p.44)
Dec. 11 The first airplane flight occurs in 1903.
(CFA, '96, p.60)
Dec 11 Roald Amundson, Norwegian explorer, reaches the South Pole in 1911.
(HFA, '96, p.20)(AHD, p.45)
Dec 11 Edward VIII abdicated from his British Kingship in 1936.
(HFA, '96, p.44)(WUD, 1994, p. 454)
Dec 11, International Mountain Day. In 2002 the UN General Assembly adopted resolution 57/245 designating 11 December as International Mountain Day.
(Econ, 11/24/12, p.68)
Dec. 13 The birthday of Heinrich Heine, German poet, born in 1797.
(HFA, '96, p.20)
Kenya became a republic in 1963.
(HFA, '96, p.44)
Dec. 14 George Washington died in 1799. [see 1732-1799, Washington]
(HFA, '96, p.44)
Ice hockey originated in 1855.
(CFA, '96, p.60)
Dec. 15 The Dictatorship in Chile ends in 1989.
(HFA, '96, p.20)
The US Bill of Rights took effect in 1791.
(HFA, '96, p.44)
Dec. 16 The birthday of Ludwig von Beethoven in 1770. [see 1770-1827]
(CFA, '96, p.60)
The Boston Tea Party was held in 1773.
(HFA, '96, p.44)
The Battle of Nashville [US Civil War] in 1864.
(HFA, '96, p.20)
Dec. 17 The Aztec calendar was discovered in 1790.
(HFA, '96, p.44)
Simon Bolivar died in 1830.
(HFA, '96, p.20)
Dec. 18 Antonio Stradivari, the great violin maker died in 1737. [see 1737]
(HFA, '96, p.20)
Slavery was abolished in the US in 1865 with the 13th Amendment.
(HFA, '96, p.44)(V.D.-H.K.p.276)
Dec. 19 4,000 Indians are killed at Wakefield, Rhode Island in 1675.
(Postcard, Wakefield Chamber of Commerce)
Thomas Paine's The Crises was printed in 1776.
(HFA, '96, p.44)
The US invaded Panama in 1989.
(HFA, '96, p.20)
Dec. 20 In an official ceremony the French turn Louisiana over to the US in 1803.
(CO, Grolier's, 11/10/95)
Settlers set sail for Jamestown in 1606.
(HFA, '96, p.44)
Dec. 21 The birthday of Joseph Stalin in 1879. [see 1879-1953]
(CFA, '96, p.60)(AHD, p.1255)
The Pan-American Flight # 103 explosion in 1988..
(HFA, '96, p.20)
The Mayflower reached Plymouth in 1620.
(HFA, '96, p.44)
Dec 22 The first commander of the US Navy was named in 1775.
(HFA, '96, p.44)
The first gorilla born in captivity in 1956.
(HFA, '96, p.20)
Dec 23 The Federal Reserve Act of 1913 was passed.
(HFA, '96, p.44)
Hideki Tojo was hanged in 1948. He was the Prime Minister and dictator of Japan in World War II.
(HFA, '96, p.20)(AHD, p.1351)
Festivus, or the “Festival for the Rest of Us" was made famous by an episode of Seinfeld on Dec 18, 1997. It came to be celebrated on Dec 23.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Festivus)
Dec 24 The birthday of Ignatius Loyola. [see 1491-1556, Loyola]
(CFA, '96, p.60)
Gruber wrote Silent Night in 1818.
(HFA, '96, p.44)
Dec 25, Christmas is the festival celebrating the birth of Christ and is observed in most countries on December 25. Christmas is sometimes called Yule (from the Anglo-Saxon) or Noel (from the French). Christian churches throughout the world hold special services on Christmas Day to give thanks for the birth of Christ. In addition to religious observances, Christmas is a time of merrymaking and feasting. North American customs are a combination of those of the various European countries from which the original settlers came. On Christmas Eve children hang stockings for Santa Claus to fill with gifts. The Christmas tree, usually an evergreen, was first used in Germany. Topped with a star or spire and decorated with colored lights and shiny ornaments, the tree plays an important part in the celebration. Mistletoe was sacred to the Druids, priests of ancient Britain and Gaul. The Norse used holly and the Yule log to keep away evil spirits. Gifts were exchanged during the Roman celebration of the Saturnalia, a feast to the god Saturn. Gift-giving came to symbolize the gifts brought to the Christ Child by the Magi. The most popular Christmas legend however, is that of Santa Claus, whose name came from Saint Nicholas, the patron saint of children. Many of the qualities that Santa Claus is known for came from Clement C. Moore's poem "A Visit From St. Nicholas."
(HN, 12/25/99)
Dec 25, Christmas was made a federal holiday in the US on June 26, 1870.
(www.thehistoryofchristmas.com/ch/in_america.htm)(Econ, 12/15/12, p.34)
Dec 25 Samuel Champlain died in 1635.
(CFA, '96, p.60)
Isaac Newton was born in 1642. [see 1642-1727, Newton]
(HFA, '96, p.44)
Romanian dictator Ceausescu was executed in 1989.
(HFA, '96, p.20)
Dean Martin, singer, comedian, actor, died in 1995. He was 78.
(WSJ, 12/26/95, p. A-1)
Dec. 26 National Whiner's Day.
(HFA, '96, p.20)
Mao Tse Tung was born in 1893. [see 1893-1976, Mao]
(HFA, '96, p.44)
Dec 27 The birthday of Johannes Kepler. [see 1571-1630]
(HFA, '96, p.20)
The birthday of Louis Pasteur. [see 1822-1895, Pasteur]
(CFA, '96, p.60)
Radio City Music Hall was opened in 1932.
(HFA, '96, p.44)
Dec 28 The first Poor Richard's Almanac was published in 1732.
(HFA, '96, p.20)
80,000 people died in the Messina, Sicily, earthquake of 1908.
(HFA, '96, p.44)(WUD, 1994, p.899)
Dec 29, St. Thomas of Canterbury was killed in 1170.
(HFA, '96, p.20)
The birthday of William Gladstone (1809-1898), British statesman and four times Prime Minister from 1868-1894.
(CFA, '96, p.60)(AHD, p.559)
The Massacre at Wounded Knee was in 1890. [The Sioux Chief, Sitting Bull, was killed in a fight with US troops on Dec. 15, 1890 according to the WUD.]
(HFA, '96, p.44)
2011 Dec 30, At midnight on Dec 29 Samoa leaped to Dec 31 to align itself with trading partners. For the country’s 186,000 citizens, Dec 30, 2011 will simply not exist.
(SFC, 12/29/11, p.A2)
Dec 31 Stalin’s 70th birthday in 1949 was the occasion for a world-wide Communist celebration. Several Stalin “Peace prizes" were announced as part of the Soviet “peace offensive" of the cold war.
(EWH, 1968, p.1197)
Dec 31 The Nation of Czechoslovakia officially ended with division into two Nations: Slovakia and the Czech Republic in 1992.
(HFA, '96, p.44)
Chinese Calendar
2010 Feb 14, This day marked a new year according to the Chinese calendar, as it moved from the reign of the Ox to the year of the Tiger. The Chinese calendar is thought to have been formulated around 500 BC, though elements of it date back at least to the Shang Dynasty at around 1,000 BC.
(http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/yearofthetigerallaboutthechinesezodiac)
JEWISH CALENDAR
The Jewish calendar is lunisolar and used to determine religious holidays. It is reckoned from 3761BC and was established by Hillel II in the 4th century AD.
(WUD, 1994, p. 767)
Tishri = the 1st month. The beginning of the civil year.
Heshvan
Kislev
Tebet
Shebat
Adar
Nisan = The 7th month. the beginning of the ecclesiastical year.
Iyar
Sivan
Tammuz = The 10th month corresponding to part of June and July.
(HFA, '96, p.32)
Ab
Elul
Veadar = A 29 day intercalary month added 7 times in every 19-year cycle in order to adjust the calendar to the solar cycle. The ecclesiastical year begins with Nisan and the civil year with Tishri.
Mayan Calendar:
Each of the 20 named days in the Maya calendar was essentially deified.
End of file
Solar Year= 365.2421896698 days.
(SFC, 11/29/03, p.D2)
Caitra is the 1st month of the Indian calendar and corresponds to March in the Gregorian calendar. Phalguna is the last.
Solar Year= 365.2421896698 days.
(SFC, 11/29/03, p.D2)
Caitra is the 1st month of the Indian calendar and corresponds to March in the Gregorian calendar. Phalguna is the last.
Notes & Queries, Guardian Weekly:
Of time past, time present and all of that heaviness. The past goes all the way back. The future goes on for ever. How long is the present?
As long as it takes the brain to realize that what just happened has passed.
Vincent Buytaert, Ghent, Belgium
Quicker than one can formulate the thought "right now", it is already gone. The present is the point that separates anticipation from retrospection.
Paul Roth, Dunedin, New Zealand
Very, very short. If it were twice as long as that, the universe would be twice as heavy. If the past were still there, the universe would be very, very heavy, and getting much heavier every very, very short moment.
Les Meek, Wellington, New Zealand
Just as a point has geometrical position and no area, the present has time position between past and future but no duration.
Dennis Roddy, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada
The past and the future don't exist. It is the present that goes on for ever.
Alan Stockbridge, Tuebingen, Germany
The present doesn't exist; only the future and the past do.
Jake Sigg, San Francisco, California, US
As long as it holds your attention to unwrap it.
Jill Day, Katoomba, NSW, Australia
There is no time like the present.
Ivan Fellowes, Cammeray, NSW, Australia
Jake Sigg Newsletter 6/29/09
432 BC An Athenian devised a 19-year "Metatonic cycle" to reconcile the lunar and solar years.
(SFC, 11/29/03, p.D2)
47BC Julius Caesar adopted a modified form of the Egyptian Calendar. Together with Sosigenes, an astronomer from Alexandria, the new calendar spreads the last 5-6 days of the Egyptian calendar amongst alternate months. March 1 began the year as a carry over from the old Roman calendar.
(K.I.-365D, p.84)
46BC The Julian calendar was introduced by Julius Caesar (708 AUC). It was a reform of the Roman calendar and took effect January 1, 45 BC (709 AUC).
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_calendar)
45BC Jan 1, The Julian calendar took effect. The year -45 has been called the "year of confusion," because in that year Julius Caesar inserted 90 days to bring the months of the Roman calendar back to their traditional place with respect to the seasons. This was Caesar's first step in replacing a calendar that had gone badly awry.
(http://astro.nmsu.edu/~lhuber/leaphist.html)
45BC Feb 29, The first Leap Day was recognized by proclamation of Julius Caesar. Under the old Roman calendar the last day of February was the last day of the year.
(HN, 2/29/00)
44BC The month of Quintilis was changed to Julius in honor of Julius Caesar. It had been the fifth month in the earliest calendar attributed to Romulus, which began with Martius and had 10 months. After a calendar reform that produced a 12-month year, Quintilis became the seventh month, but retained its name A bright comet was declared by the Romans to be the soul of Julius Caesar ascending to join the gods.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quintilis)(SFC, 3/28/97, p.A12)
1BC Mar 1, Start of the revised Julian calendar in Rome.
(SC, 3/1/02)
552 Jul 10, Origin of Armenian calendar.
(MC, 7/10/02)
622 24-Sep, In the Hegira Muhammed left Mecca for Medina (aka Yathrib) with 75 followers. This event marked the beginning of the Islamic lunar calendar. The new faith was called "Islam," which means submission to Allah. Believers in Islam are called Muslims-- "Those who submit to Allah's will." In Medina Mohammad tried to unite the Jews and Arabs and initially faced Jerusalem to pray. The Jewish leaders did not accept Mohammad as a prophet and so Mohammad expelled from the city the Jews who opposed him. From then on he commanded the Muslims to face the Kaaba in Mecca when praying.
(V.D.-H.K.p.19)(ATC, p.60)
1576 The basilica of San Petronio was erected by Egnatio Danti, a mathematician and Dominican friar who worked for Cosimo I dei Medici, the Grand Duke of Tuscany. The structure included a solar observatory. Danti also advised Pope Gregory on calendar reform.
(SFC, 10/25/99, p.A4)
1582 Feb 24, Pope Gregory XIII issued a papal bull, or edict, outlining his calendar reforms. The old Julian Calendar had an error rate of one day in every 128 years. This was corrected in the Gregorian Calendar of Pope Gregory XIII, but Protestant countries did not accept the change till 1700 and later. [see 1552 and Oct 4, 1582]
(HFA, '96, p.22)(TL-MB, 1988, p.23)(HN, 6/7/98)(SFEC, 2/20/00, Par p.7)(AP, 2/24/02)
1582 Oct 4, The Church Council at Trent, Italy, discussed the error of 10 days in the calendar as referenced to the spring equinox which was used to establish the date for Easter. Pope Gregory announced a correction, "The Gregorian Adjustment," and had Oct. 4 followed by Oct. 15. The calendar is accurate to a day in 3,323 years. [see 1552]
(K.I.-365D, p.97)(NG, March 1990, J. Boslough)(SFEC, 2/20/00, Par p.7)
1582 Oct 5, The Gregorian calendar was introduced in Italy, other Catholic countries. Nothing happened. This day was skipped and became Oct 15 to bring the calendar into sync by order of the Council of Trent. In 1998 David Ewing Duncan published "Calendar: Humanity’s Epic Struggle to Determine a True and Accurate Year." In Bohemia the anti-Gregorian astronomer Michael Mestlin proclaimed that the pope was stealing 10 days from everyone’s life. [see Sep 3, 1752]
(K.I.-365D, p.97)(NG, March 1990)(SFEC, 9/27/98, BR p.5)(MC, 10/5/01)
1582 Oct 5-14, The days when nothing happened.
(SFEC, 9/27/98, BR p.5)
1582 Oct 15, The Gregorian (or New World) calendar was adopted in Italy, France, Luxembourg, Spain, and Portugal; and the preceding ten days were lost to history. This day followed Oct 4 to bring the calendar into sync. by order of the Council of Trent. Oct 5-14 were dropped.
(K.I.-365D, p.97)(NG, March 1990, J. Boslough)(HN, 10/15/98)(SFEC, 10/3/99, Par p.27)
1582 Prolaptic Gregorian calendar: This refers to years, months, etc. as if the Gregorian calendar had been in use since the beginning of time; specifically before 1582.
1584 Jan 7, This was the last day of the Julian calendar in Bohemia & Holy Roman empire. The 1582 Gregorian (or New World) calendar was adopted by this time in Belgium, most of the German Roman Catholic states and the Netherlands.
(SFEC, 10/3/99, Par p.27)(MC, 1/7/02)
1700 Jan 1, Russia replaced the Byzantine with the Julian calendar, which remained in effect until the adoption of the Gregorian calendar in 1918.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etos_Kosmou)
1752 Sep 3, The Gregorian Adjustment to the calendar was put into effect in Great Britain and the American colonies followed. At this point in time 11 days needed to be accounted for and Sept. 2 was selected to be followed by Sept. 14. People rioted thinking the government stole 11 days of their lives. [see Oct 5, 1582]
(K.I.-365D, p.97)(SFEC, 9/27/98, BR p.5)(MC, 9/3/01)
1864 Scottish author W.R. chambers published “Book of Days: A Miscellany of Popular Antiquities in Connection with the Calendar, Including Anecdote, Biography, & History, Curiosities of Literature and Oddities of Human Life and Character."
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chambers_Book_of_Days)
1870 Jun 26, Christmas was made a federal holiday in the US.
(www.thehistoryofchristmas.com/ch/in_america.htm)(Econ, 12/15/12, p.34)
1912 Apr 15, Kim Il Sung, North Korea's communist founder and leader (1948-1994), was born. In 1997 this date marked year one in the North Korean calendar.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Korean_calendar)(Econ, 8/15/15, p.13)
1918 Jan 31, Russia joined the rest of the world and adopted the Gregorian calendar. The next day became February 14, 1918.
(www.ortelius.de/kalender/greg_en.php)
1920 Mar 4, Last day of Julian civil calendar in Greece.
(SC, 3/4/02)
1929 Joseph Stalin reset the Soviet calendar to give workers every 5th day off. Shifts were staggered so that factories could run without interruption. The staggered working week was abandoned after 3 years.
(Econ, 5/21/05, p.80)
1940 Jun 27, USSR returned to the Gregorian calendar.
(SC, 6/27/02)
1986 Danny Hillis began thinking and working on a 10,000 Year Clock. After some years Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com provided assistance and the clock began taking shape inside a mountain in West Texas. The first prototype of the clock began working on December 31, 1999.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clock_of_the_Long_Now)
1999 E.G. Richards authored "Mapping Time: The Calendar and Its History."
(SFC, 11/29/03, p.D2)
2000 Bonnie Blackburn and Leofranc Holford-Stevens compiled "The Oxford Companion to the Year."
(SFEC, 2/20/00, Par p.7)
2010 Apr 4, A US-Russian space team sent their Easter greetings down to Earth after their Soyuz spacecraft docked flawlessly at the International Space Station. The rotating calendars of the Christian West and the Christian East agreed on the same date for Easter.
(AP, 4/4/10)(Econ, 4/3/10, p.85)
2011 Dec 30, At midnight on Dec 29 Samoa leaped to Dec 31 to align itself with trading partners. For the country’s 186,000 citizens, Dec 30, 2011 will simply not exist.
(SFC, 12/29/11, p.A2)
2012 May 18, It was reported that Saudi Arabia has banned all government and private agencies from using the Gregorian calendar in official dealings. The use the English language to answer calls or communicate, mainly in companies and hotels, has also been banned in an effort to preserve the Arabic language.
(SSFC, 5/20/12, p.A4)
2015 Feb 18, The Chinese New Year holiday began today due to the insertion of a lunar leap month last year.
(Econ, 2/14/15, p.40)
Days of the Year
Jan 3, Grizzly bear cubs are born around this date.
(SFEC, 4/20/97, Z1 p.5)
Jan 6, Traditional day of the Epiphany, the day that the three kings, Melchior, Gaspar and Balthazar brought to Jesus gifts of Gold, Incense and Myrhh.
(Cafe Clovis, SF, 1/4/98)
Jan 7, In 2000 some 200 million Orthodox Christians observed Christmas according to the old Julian calendar.
(SFC, 1/7/97, p.A9)(SFC, 1/8/00, p.C1)
Jan 11, National Thankyou Day in the US.
(HFA, '96, p.22)
Jan 17, St. Anthony’s day.
(Hem., 3/97, p.74)
Jan 20, St. Sebastian’s day.
(Hem., 3/97, p.74)
Jan 23, US National Handwriting Day in honor of John Hancock and his signature on the US Declaration of Independence: "I'll sign it in letters bold enough so the King of England can see it without his spectacles on!"
(MC, 1/23/02)
Jan 26, India celebrates its Republic Day, a national holiday to mark the adoption of its constitution (1950).
(Econ, 1/24/09, p.50)
February = Phalguna, the last month of the Indian calendar.
(SFC, 11/29/03, p.D2)
Feb 2, Candlemas day. Candles are blessed in honor of the presentation of the baby Jesus in the Temple and the purification of the Virgin Mary. The French of long ago believed that pancakes eaten on this day prevented hemorrhoids.
(WUD, 1994, p.216)(SFC, 1/17/98, p.C5)
Feb 2, Groundhog Day [see 1887]
Feb 12, Clean out your computer day.
(HFA, '96, p.24)
Mar 20, The International Day of Happiness. It was established by the United Nations General Assembly on 28 June 2012.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Day_of_Happiness)(Econ, 11/24/12, p.68)
Mar 21, World Poetry Day. It was declared by UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) in 1999.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Poetry_Day)(Econ, 11/24/12, p.68)
March Easter is the Sunday after the Paschal full moon, which may occur any time from Mar 21 through Apr 18. Thus the date for Easter may be any time from March 22 to April 25 inclusive. The date of the Paschal full moon is determined from tables and it may differ from the date of the actual full moon by as much as 2 days.
(SFC, 12/27/04, p.C10)
March Caitra, the 1st month of the Indian Calendar.
(SFC, 11/29/03, p.D2)
Apr 5, Lava Lamp Day was celebrated in 1965.
(MC, 4/5/02)
Apr 7, In 1795 the National Convention of Revolutionary France put into effect a new calendar system, similar to that of ancient Egypt. The year began with the autumn equinox, and had 360 days divided into twelve months of thirty days. Five extra days were placed at the end of the year. The months were divided into three 10 day groups. The day was divided into 10 new hours, each hour into 100 minutes, and each minute into 100 seconds.
(K.I.-365D, p.42)
April 19-25, Icelanders, using the old Norse calendar celebrate the beginning of summer, Summardagurinn Fyrsti, on the first Thursday between April 19 and 25.
(SSFC, 4/15/12, p.P3)
May 17, National Day in Norway.
(Econ, 5/29/04, p.54)
May 29, Saint’s day of Theodosia, martyred in 729 in Constantinople.
(Ot, 1993, p.1)
May, The 40th day after Easter Sunday is celebrated by Catholics as the Feast of the Ascension.
(www.newadvent.org/cathen/01767b.htm)
Jun 1, The Atlantic hurricane season begins.
(HFA, '96, p.32)
Jun 24, St. John’s feast day.
(DrEE, 9/28/96, p.1)
Jun 14 This is Flag Day in the US.
Jul 25, The Greek Isle of Tilos celebrates the feast of St. Pandeleimon.
(SSFC, 2/14/04, p.D6)
Jul 30, The International Day of Friendship. On 27 April 2011 the General Assembly of the United Nations declared 30 July as official International Friendship Day.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Friendship_Day)(Econ, 11/24/12, p.68)
Aug 16
Aug 17
Aug 18
Aug 19
Aug 20
Aug 21
Aug 22
Aug 23
Aug 24
Aug 25
Aug 26
Aug 27 The birthday of Confucius.
(CFA, '96, p.52)
The first commercial oil well was set up in 1859.
(HFA, '96, p.36)
Aug 28 The first oil well was drilled in 1859.
(CFA, '96, p.52)
The first radio commercial was in 1922.
(HFA, '96, p.36)
Aug 29 St. John the Baptist was killed c. 29AD.
(HFA, '96, p.36)
Aug 30 The first flight of the space shuttle Discovery in 1984.
(HFA, '96, p.36)
Aug 31 William Saroyan was born in 1908.
(HFA, '96, p.36)
SEPTEMBER
Sept. 1 World War II began in 1939,
(CFA, '96, p.54)
The KAL flight 007 was downed in 1983 by Soviet fighters.
(HFA, '96, p.38) (TMC, 1994, p.1983)
Sept. 2 The Great Fire of London occurs in 1666.
(CFA, '96, p.54)
Sept. 3 The Trans-Canada Highway opens in 1962.
(CFA, '96, p.54)
Frederick Douglass, American Negro abolitionist, escaped in 1838.
(HFA, '96, p.38) (AHD, 1971, p.394)
Sept. 4 Los Angeles was founded in 1781.
(HFA, '96, p.38)
Sept. 5 The birthday of Cardinal Richelieu.
(CFA, '96, p.54)
The St. Gotthard tunnel in Switzerland was opened in 1980.
(HFA, '96, p.38)
Sept. 6 The Baltic States gain independence in 1991.
(HFA, '96, p.38)
Sept. 7 Brazil becomes an independent nation in 1822.
(HFA, '96, p.38)
Sept. 8 The birthday of Peter Stuyvesant.
(CFA, '96, p.54)
The siege of Malta was broken in 1565.
(HFA, '96, p.38)
Sept. 9 The Battle of Marathon occurred in 490BC.
(HFA, '96, p.38)
Sept. 10 The sewing machine was patented in 1846.
(CFA, '96, p.54)
Sept. 11 The birthday of O Henry.
(CFA, '96, p.54)
Sept. 13 Jesse Owens was born in 1913. He was multi-gold medal winner at the 1936 Olympic games at Berlin.
(HFA, '96, p.38)(AHD, 1971, p.938)
Sept. 13 The Battle of Quebec was fought in 1759.
(CFA, '96, p.54)
British troops bombard Ft. McHenry, and Francis Scott Key composes the Star Spangled Banner in 1814.
New York City was made the capital of the US in 1788.
(HFA, '96, p.38)
Sept. 14 Dante died in 1321.
(HFA, '96, p.38)
Sept. 15 Greenpeace was founded in 1971.
(HFA, '96, p.38)
Sept. 16 Lt. Gen. Lord Charles Cornwallis directs the sinking of a fleet of ships at Yorktown to block a French landing and keep them out of enemy hands in 1781.
(NG, 6/1988, p.806)
Sept. 16 Independence Day in Mexico.
(SFE, 9/16/96, p.A21)
Sept. 17 Union forces turn back the Confederate army at Antietam in 1862.
(SFE Mag., 2/12/95, p. 30)
The US Constitution was approved in 1787.
(HFA, '96, p.38)
Sept. 18 The US Air Force becomes a separate service.
(HFA, '96, p.38)
Sept. 19 An earthquake hit Mexico City in 1985.
(HFA, '96, p.38)
Sept. 20 The birthday of Alexander the Great.
(CFA, '96, p.54)
The Panic of 1873. A financial panic hits the US when the high-flying bond dealer, Jay Cooke, grants too many loans to the railroads.
(HFA, '96, p.38)(WSJ, 2/27/95, p.A-10)
Sept. 21
Sept. 22 The first all woman jury in the colonies was in 1656.
(HFA, '96, p.38)
Sept. 23 The birthday of Caesar Augustus.
(CFA, '96, p.54)
Neptune was discovered in 1846.
(HFA, '96, p.38)
Sept. 24 F. Scott Fitzgerald was born in 1896. [see 1896-1940, Fitzgerald]
(HFA, '96, p.38)
Sept. 25 Balboa discovered the Pacific Ocean in 1513.
(HFA, '96, p.38)
Sept. 26 The birthday of George Gershwin.
(CFA, '96, p.54)
The release of the Beatles last album, Let It Be, was in 1969. Beatles Forever has the date as May 1970.
(HFA, '96, p.38)(Beatles Forever, 1995, p. 58)
Sept. 27 The Warren Commission Report was released. The Warren Commission announced that according to its findings Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone as did Jack Ruby in the assassination of Pres. John F. Kennedy.
(WSJ, 5/17/95, p.A-18) (HFA, '96, p.38)
Sept. 28 California was discovered in 1542.
(HFA, '96, p.38)
Sept. 29 The first London "bobbies" appeared in 1829.
(HFA, '96, p.38)
Sept. 30 J.B. Aristide, elected President of Haiti, was deposed by a military junta in 1991.
(HFA, '96, p.38)
OCTOBER
Fighting and mating season for the southern elephant seals.
(NH, 5/96, p.70)
Oct. 1 The first "Model T" Ford was build in 1908.
(CFA, '96, p.56)
The Allies took Naples in 1943.
(HFA, '96, p.40)
Oct. 3 18 US Rangers & Delta Force specialists die in Somalia in 1993.
(WSJ, 10/23/95, p.A-18)
Gandhi was born in 1869.
(HFA, '96, p.40)
Oct. 4 The Russian White House was shelled in 1993.
(HFA, '96, p.40)
Oct. 5 Native American Indian Chief Joseph surrendered in 1877.
(HFA, '96, p.40)
Oct. 6 Egyptian and Syrian forces attack Israel on Yom Kippur in 1973.
(TL-MB, p.21)
[Egyptian Pres.] Anwar Sadat, was assassinated in 1981.
(HFA, '96, p.40)
Oct. 7
Oct. 8 The Great Chicago Fire began in 1871.
(HFA, '96, p.40)
Oct. 9 Uganda became independent in 1962
(HFA, '96, p.40)
Oct. 10 Giuseppi Verdi was born in 1813. [see 1813-1901, Verdi]
(HFA, '96, p.40)
Oct. 11 Columbus first saw the New World in 1492. [some discrepancy here]
(HFA, '96, p.40)
Oct. 12 Columbus sited an island in the Bahamas now called Guanahani in 1492.
(V.D.-H.K.p.176)
The Magellan spacecraft crashed into Venus in 1994.
(TV, 10/17/95)
Oct 12, In Venezuela Pres. Chaves this day is celebrated as Indigenous Resistance Day. Previously the holiday was called Día de la Raza, commemorating the arrival of Christopher Columbus to the Americas.
(Econ, 1/17/09, p.41)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_holidays_in_Venezuela)
Oct. 13 The birthday of Margaret Thatcher.
(CFA, '96, p.56)
Boston was photographed from the air in 1860.
(HFA, '96, p.40)
Oct. 14 Dwight D. Eisenhower was born in 1890. [see 1890-1969, Eisenhower]
(HFA, '96, p.40)
Oct. 15 The birthday of Virgil.
(CFA, '96, p.56)
Final tax deadline in the US following extensions.
(WSJ)
Oct. 16 The birthday of Noah Webster 1758-1843, American lexicographer.
(CFA, '96, p.56)(AHD, 1971, p.1452)
Tax deadline for written acknowledgement of charitable gift of > $250.00
(WSJ)
Marie Antoinette was beheaded in 1793.
(HFA, '96, p.40)
Oct. 17 A strong earthquake hit San Francisco in 1989.
(HFA, '96, p.40)
Oct. 18 The birthday of Pierre Trudeau.
(CFA, '96, p.56)
The first German War Crimes Trial began in 1945.
(HFA, '96, p.40)
Oct. 19 Cornwallis surrenders in 1781 and the American Revolution was won.
(NG, 6/1988, p.808)
Don Cherry, jazz trumpeter died in 1995.
(WSJ, 10/23/95, p.A-1)
General Sheridan retook Cedar Creek in 1864.
(HFA, '96, p.40)
Oct. 20
Oct. 22 The birthday of Sarah Bernhardt.
(CFA, '96, p.56)
Oct 23 The death of St. John of Capistrano. Also the scheduled departure date for the swallows of San Juan Capistrano.
(HT, 3/97, p.63)
Oct. 24 At the San Francisco Conference chaired by the State Department's Alger Hiss, the United Nations was born in 1945. [See 1945 June 26, UN charter signed in SF]
(CFA, '96, p.56)(TMC, 1994, p.1945)
The United Nations organized a cease fire for the Arab-Israeli War of 1973.
(TL-MB, p.21)
Black Thursday on Wall Street in 1929.
(HFA, '96, p.40)
Oct. 25 The birthday of Pablo Picasso.
(CFA, '96, p.56)
The first female FBI agents in 1972.
(HFA, '96, p.40)
Oct. 26 The Erie Canal was opened in 1825.
(HFA, '96, p.40)
Oct. 27
Oct. 28 The birthday of Jonas Salk.
(CFA, '96, p.56)
The first US female ambassador was appointed in 1949.
(HFA, '96, p.40)
Oct. 29 Turkey became a Republic in 1923.
(HFA, '96, p.40)
Oct. 30 War of the Worlds was broadcast in 1938.
(HFA, '96, p.40)
Oct 31, Halloween is a festival of Scottish-Irish origin held on All Hallows Eve, the night of October 31, the eve of All Saints Day. Elements of the customs associated with Halloween can be traced to a Druid ceremony of pre-Christian times. In Britain and Ireland, the Celtic festival of Samhain, the god of the dead, was held November 1, the beginning of the Celtic New Year. The occasion was celebrated with a fire festival, when huge bonfires were set on hilltops to frighten away evil spirits. This was the time to placate the supernatural powers controlling the natural process. This was also thought to be the time most favorable for divination concerning marriage, luck, health and death. This was the only day the devil’s help was invoked for such purposes.
When the Romans conquered Britain in the first century A.D., their fall harvest festival, Poloma Day, mixed with the traditions of Samhain to form a major fall festival at the end of October. After the spread of Christianity through the west, the Roman Catholic Church in 835 A.D. made November 1 a church holiday to honor all the saints. This celebration was called All Saint's Day or All Hallows and the day before it--October 31--was called All Hallow's Eve. The Halloween celebrated today includes all these influences. In the 11th century November 2 was specified as All Soul’s Day to honor the souls of the dead, particularly those who had died the preceding year.
In Europe, during medieval times and later, elves, fairies and witches (who occasionally took the shape of cats) were believed to fly on All Hallows Eve, and bonfires were lit to ward off these spirits. Laughing bands of guisers (young people disguised in grotesque masks) carved lanterns from turnips and carried them through the villages. Halloween was also a time for games and rituals involving methods of foretelling the future. Through such methods as apple paring thrown over the shoulder or nuts burned in the fire, young people tried to determine their marital prospects.
Immigrants to the United States, particularly Irish, introduced secular Halloween costumes which became popular in the 19th century. The Irish belief that fairies and elves played pranks on Halloween led boys and young men to carry out practical jokes, such as putting a buggy on a roof, overturning sheds and outhouses and breaking windows. Property damage was sometimes severe. In the 20th century, Halloween came to be observed mainly by small children, who dress in costume and proceed from house to house demanding "trick or treat," but a trick is rarely played and--remember--a treat always given.
(Historynet, 10/31/98)(HNPD, 10/31/98)
NOVEMBER
Nov 1 All Hallows or All Saints Day.
(HFA, '96, p.18,42)
Nov 2 Marie Antoinette was born in 1755. [see 1755-1793, M. Antoinete]
(CFA, '96, p.58)
The first radio station was set up in 1920.
(CFA, '96, p.58)
All Souls Day, the birthday of Daniel Boone, born 1734.
(HFA, '96, p.18,42)
South Dakota became the 40th US state in 1889.
(HFA, '96, p.42)
Nov 3 There was a Revolution in Panama in 1903.
(HFA, '96, p.42)
Nov 4 The birthday of Will Rogers, born in 1879.
(HFA, '96, p.18)
Walter Cronkite’s (b.1916) birthday. In 1981 he won the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He anchored the evening news on CBS from 1961-1981.
(SFEC, 11/10/96, zone 1 p.3)
The US Embassy was taken over by Iranian students in 1979.
(HFA, '96, p.42)
Nov 5 Guy Fawkes day. After persuasion on the rack in the White Tower of London, confessed to trying to blow up Parliament in the Gunpowder Plot of 1605
(NG, V184, No. 4, Oct. 1993, p. 54) (HFA, '96, p.18)
Nov 6 The birthday of John Philip Sousa.
(CFA, '96, p.58)
Tchaikovsky died in 1893.
(HFA, '96, p.18)
The Tammany Hall officials lost in 1894. [see 1894, Nov 6, Tammany Hall]
(HFA, '96, p.42)
Nov 7 Lewis and Clark reached the Pacific Ocean in 1805.
(HFA, '96, p.42)
The birthday of Madame Curie in 1867.
(CFA, '96, p.58)(AHD, p.323)
The Canadian Pacific Railroad reaches the Pacific Ocean in 1885.
(CFA, '96, p.58)
The Russian Revolution of 1917.
(CFA, '96, p.58)
Japan attacks Pearl Harbor in 1941.
(CFA, '96, p.60)
Nov 8 Montana became the 41st state in 1889.
(HFA, '96, p.18)
Roentgen discovered X-rays in 1895.
(HFA, '96, p.18)
Nov 9 Kristallnacht in Germany in 1938.
(HFA, '96, p.18)
A major power failure hits the East Coast of the US in 1965.
(HFA, '96, p.42)
Nov 10 Stanley found Livingston in 1871.
(HFA, '96, p.42)
The US Marine Corps was established in 1775.
(HFA, '96, p.18)
Nov 11 Armistice was signed in 1918 [end of World War I]. The Germans gave up and World War I ended. Timed for the 11th hr. of the 11th day of the 11th month.
(V.D.-H.K.p.268,291)(CFA, '96, p.58)(SFC, 11/9/96, p.A16)
Veteran's Day.
(HFA, '96, p.18)
Washington became the 42nd state in 1889.
(HFA, '96, p.18)
Nov 12 The birthday of Sun Yat-Sen, born (trad) in 1866.
(HFA, '96, p.18)
Princess Grace was born in 1929. [Grace Kelly, movie star]
(HFA, '96, p. 42)
The San Francisco Bay Bridge opened in 1936. It cost $78 million and was the longest bridge ever attempted.
(SFC, 11/11/96, p.A13)
Nov 13 Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894), author of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, "Treasure Island" and many other books was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. "Robert Louis Stevenson: Interviews and Recollections" was ed. by R.C. Terry and published in 1996.
(Smith., 8/95, p.54)(SFC, 9/1/96, Par. p.12)
Nov 13 The first US African-American mayor was elected. Carl Stokes became the first black US mayor of a major US city.
(HFA, '96, p. 42) (TMC, 1994, p.1967)
Nov 13 In 1995 a US facility in Saudi Arabia was bombed. The explosion shattered the Saudi National Guard training center, and killed 5 Americans and 2 Indians. Four Saudi citizens were beheaded on May 31, 1996 for the bombing.
(SFC, 6/1/96, p.A12)
Nov 14 The first blood transfusion was performed in 1666.
(HFA, '96, p.42)
Mamie Doud Eisenhower (b.Nov 14, 1896-1979), wife of former Pres. “Ike" Eisenhower.
(SFEC, 11/17/96, p.C14)
The birthday of Prince Charles.
(CFA, '96, p.58)
The Dow Jones first tops 1000 in 1972.
(HFA, '96, p.18)
The birthday of Robert Fulton.
(CFA, '96, p.58)
Nov 15 Georgia O'Keefe was born on this day in 1887 and died in 1986.
(HFA, '96, p.42) (SFC, 5/12/96, p.T-7)
Brazil became a republic in 1889.
(HFA, '96, p.18)
Nov 16 Skylab IV was launched in 1973.
(HFA, '96, p.18)
Oklahoma became the 46th US state in 1907.
(HFA, '96, p.42)
Nov 17 The Suez Canal was opened in 1869.
(CFA, '96, p.58)
Nov 18 The US established universal time zones in 1883.
(HFA, '96, p.18)
The Battle of Vertieres was in 1803.
(HFA, '96, p.42)
Nov 19 The birthday of James A. Garfield (1831-1881), the 20th Pres. of the US. He was assassinated in July by Charles J. Guiteau, who wished to be appointed consul to France.
(CFA, '96, p.58)(WUD, 1994, p.584)(A&IP, ESM, p.96b, photo,110)
2012 Nov 19, World Toilet Day. It was created in 2001 to raise global awareness of the daily struggle for proper sanitation.
(Econ, 11/24/12, p.68)(http://www.worldtoiletday.org/)
Nov 20 Elizabeth II married Phillip in 1947.
(HFA, '96, p.42)
Nov 21 The Alaska-Canadian Highway was opened in 1942.
(HFA, '96, p.42)
Nov 21, World Television Day. The UN General Assembly proclaimed 21 November as World Television Day (through resolution 51/205 of 17 December 1996).
(Econ, 11/24/12, p.68)(http://www.un.org/en/events/televisionday/)
Nov 22 Jack London, writer, died of a kidney disease in 1916. He had written 50 books that included “Call of the Wild" and “White Fang."
(SFC, 11/20/96, p.A17)
Trans-Pacific mail service was established in 1935.
(HFA, '96, p.18)
The assassination of John F. Kennedy was in 1963.
(PBS radio)
Nov 23 Billy the Kid was born in 1859. William H. Bonney, US outlaw, 1859-1881. A ballet titled Billy the Kid by Aaron Copland was written in 1938.
(HFA, '96, p.42)(WUD, 1994, p.148)
Nov 24 The US left the Philippines in 1992.
(HFA, '96, p.18)
Louis Malle, French film director, died of Lymphoma in 1995.
(WSJ, 11/27/95, p.A-1)
"The Battle Above the Clouds" began in 1863.
(HFA, '96, p.42)
Nov 25 The birthday of Andrew Carnegie.
(CFA, '96, p.58)
The 55 mph speed limit was imposed in 1973.
(HFA, '96, p.42)
Nov 26 The first Thanksgiving Day was in 1789.
(HFA, '96, p.42)
Nov 27 Chaim Weizmann was born in 1874. He was an Israeli chemist and Zionist leader and the first president of Israel from 1948-1952.
(HFA, '96, p.42)(WUD, 1994, p.1619)
Nov 28 William Blake, English artist-printer, was born in London in 1757.
(LS MAG, Spring 1995, p.17)
Nov 29 The Czechs end Communist rule in 1989.
(HFA, '96, p.18)
Admiral Byrd flew over the South Pole in 1929. He had flown over the north pole on 1926 with Floyd Bennett.
(HFA, '96, p.42)
Nov 30 The birthday of Winston Churchill. (CFA, '96, p.58)
Mark Twain was born in 1835. (HFA, '96, p.18)
DECEMBER
Dec. 1 The National Day of Romania.
(WSJ, 11/6/95, p.B-8F)
Iceland became independent in 1918.
(HFA, '96, p.20)
Rosa Parks was arrested in 1955.
(HFA, '96, p.44)
The United Arab Emirates was formed in 1971.
(HFA, '96, p.20)
Dec. 2 John Brown was hanged in 1859.
(HFA, '96, p.44)
Dec. 3 Illinois became the 21st state of the US in 1818.
(HFA, '96, p.20)
Robert Louis Stevenson died on this day in 1894.
(Smith., 8/95, p.53)
The Bhopal poison gas disaster was in 1984.
(HFA, '96, p.44)
Dec. 4 Thomas Carlyle, English essayist and historian, was born in 1795.
(HFA, '96, p.20)(AHD, p.204)
The National Grange was founded in 1867. It was a US lodge for promoting the interests of agriculture.
(HFA, '96, p.44)(WUD, 1994, p.615)
Dec. 5 The birthday of Walt Disney.
(CFA, '96, p.60)
Columbus discovered Haiti in 1492.
(HFA, '96, p.20)
The US Montgomery Bus Boycott began in 1955.
(HFA, '96, p.44)
Dec. 6 The Halifax Disaster occurred in 1917.
(CFA, '96, p.60)
Quito, Ecuador, was founded in 1534.
(HFA, '96, p.20)
St. Nicholas day in Turkey.
(WSJ, 8/31/98, p.B1)
Dec. 7 Pearl Harbor was bombed in 1941.
(HFA, '96, p.44)
Dec 7, International Civil Aviation Day. In 1996 the UN General Assembly proclaimed December 7 as International Civil Aviation Day.
(www.timeanddate.com/holidays/un/international-civil-aviation-day)(Econ, 11/24/12, p.68)
Dec. 8 The birthday of Eli Whitney [inventor of the cotton gin, see 1765-1825].
(CFA, '96, p.60)
The birthday of Mario Savio (1943-1996), founder of the Berkeley Free Speech Movement in 1964.
(SFC, 11/7/96, p.A15)
Dec 9, Int’l. Anti-Corruption Day. On 31 October 2003, the General Assembly adopted the United Nations Convention against Corruption and requested that the Secretary-General designate the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) as secretariat for the Convention’s Conference of States Parties (resolution 58/4).
(Econ, 12/15/12, p.61)(www.un.org/en/events/anticorruptionday/)
Dec 9 The Convention on Genocide was in 1948.
(HFA, '96, p.44)
Dec. 10 Missouri became the 20th state of the US in 1817.
(HFA, '96, p.44)
Dec. 11 The first airplane flight occurs in 1903.
(CFA, '96, p.60)
Dec 11 Roald Amundson, Norwegian explorer, reaches the South Pole in 1911.
(HFA, '96, p.20)(AHD, p.45)
Dec 11 Edward VIII abdicated from his British Kingship in 1936.
(HFA, '96, p.44)(WUD, 1994, p. 454)
Dec 11, International Mountain Day. In 2002 the UN General Assembly adopted resolution 57/245 designating 11 December as International Mountain Day.
(Econ, 11/24/12, p.68)
Dec. 13 The birthday of Heinrich Heine, German poet, born in 1797.
(HFA, '96, p.20)
Kenya became a republic in 1963.
(HFA, '96, p.44)
Dec. 14 George Washington died in 1799. [see 1732-1799, Washington]
(HFA, '96, p.44)
Ice hockey originated in 1855.
(CFA, '96, p.60)
Dec. 15 The Dictatorship in Chile ends in 1989.
(HFA, '96, p.20)
The US Bill of Rights took effect in 1791.
(HFA, '96, p.44)
Dec. 16 The birthday of Ludwig von Beethoven in 1770. [see 1770-1827]
(CFA, '96, p.60)
The Boston Tea Party was held in 1773.
(HFA, '96, p.44)
The Battle of Nashville [US Civil War] in 1864.
(HFA, '96, p.20)
Dec. 17 The Aztec calendar was discovered in 1790.
(HFA, '96, p.44)
Simon Bolivar died in 1830.
(HFA, '96, p.20)
Dec. 18 Antonio Stradivari, the great violin maker died in 1737. [see 1737]
(HFA, '96, p.20)
Slavery was abolished in the US in 1865 with the 13th Amendment.
(HFA, '96, p.44)(V.D.-H.K.p.276)
Dec. 19 4,000 Indians are killed at Wakefield, Rhode Island in 1675.
(Postcard, Wakefield Chamber of Commerce)
Thomas Paine's The Crises was printed in 1776.
(HFA, '96, p.44)
The US invaded Panama in 1989.
(HFA, '96, p.20)
Dec. 20 In an official ceremony the French turn Louisiana over to the US in 1803.
(CO, Grolier's, 11/10/95)
Settlers set sail for Jamestown in 1606.
(HFA, '96, p.44)
Dec. 21 The birthday of Joseph Stalin in 1879. [see 1879-1953]
(CFA, '96, p.60)(AHD, p.1255)
The Pan-American Flight # 103 explosion in 1988..
(HFA, '96, p.20)
The Mayflower reached Plymouth in 1620.
(HFA, '96, p.44)
Dec 22 The first commander of the US Navy was named in 1775.
(HFA, '96, p.44)
The first gorilla born in captivity in 1956.
(HFA, '96, p.20)
Dec 23 The Federal Reserve Act of 1913 was passed.
(HFA, '96, p.44)
Hideki Tojo was hanged in 1948. He was the Prime Minister and dictator of Japan in World War II.
(HFA, '96, p.20)(AHD, p.1351)
Festivus, or the “Festival for the Rest of Us" was made famous by an episode of Seinfeld on Dec 18, 1997. It came to be celebrated on Dec 23.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Festivus)
Dec 24 The birthday of Ignatius Loyola. [see 1491-1556, Loyola]
(CFA, '96, p.60)
Gruber wrote Silent Night in 1818.
(HFA, '96, p.44)
Dec 25, Christmas is the festival celebrating the birth of Christ and is observed in most countries on December 25. Christmas is sometimes called Yule (from the Anglo-Saxon) or Noel (from the French). Christian churches throughout the world hold special services on Christmas Day to give thanks for the birth of Christ. In addition to religious observances, Christmas is a time of merrymaking and feasting. North American customs are a combination of those of the various European countries from which the original settlers came. On Christmas Eve children hang stockings for Santa Claus to fill with gifts. The Christmas tree, usually an evergreen, was first used in Germany. Topped with a star or spire and decorated with colored lights and shiny ornaments, the tree plays an important part in the celebration. Mistletoe was sacred to the Druids, priests of ancient Britain and Gaul. The Norse used holly and the Yule log to keep away evil spirits. Gifts were exchanged during the Roman celebration of the Saturnalia, a feast to the god Saturn. Gift-giving came to symbolize the gifts brought to the Christ Child by the Magi. The most popular Christmas legend however, is that of Santa Claus, whose name came from Saint Nicholas, the patron saint of children. Many of the qualities that Santa Claus is known for came from Clement C. Moore's poem "A Visit From St. Nicholas."
(HN, 12/25/99)
Dec 25, Christmas was made a federal holiday in the US on June 26, 1870.
(www.thehistoryofchristmas.com/ch/in_america.htm)(Econ, 12/15/12, p.34)
Dec 25 Samuel Champlain died in 1635.
(CFA, '96, p.60)
Isaac Newton was born in 1642. [see 1642-1727, Newton]
(HFA, '96, p.44)
Romanian dictator Ceausescu was executed in 1989.
(HFA, '96, p.20)
Dean Martin, singer, comedian, actor, died in 1995. He was 78.
(WSJ, 12/26/95, p. A-1)
Dec. 26 National Whiner's Day.
(HFA, '96, p.20)
Mao Tse Tung was born in 1893. [see 1893-1976, Mao]
(HFA, '96, p.44)
Dec 27 The birthday of Johannes Kepler. [see 1571-1630]
(HFA, '96, p.20)
The birthday of Louis Pasteur. [see 1822-1895, Pasteur]
(CFA, '96, p.60)
Radio City Music Hall was opened in 1932.
(HFA, '96, p.44)
Dec 28 The first Poor Richard's Almanac was published in 1732.
(HFA, '96, p.20)
80,000 people died in the Messina, Sicily, earthquake of 1908.
(HFA, '96, p.44)(WUD, 1994, p.899)
Dec 29, St. Thomas of Canterbury was killed in 1170.
(HFA, '96, p.20)
The birthday of William Gladstone (1809-1898), British statesman and four times Prime Minister from 1868-1894.
(CFA, '96, p.60)(AHD, p.559)
The Massacre at Wounded Knee was in 1890. [The Sioux Chief, Sitting Bull, was killed in a fight with US troops on Dec. 15, 1890 according to the WUD.]
(HFA, '96, p.44)
2011 Dec 30, At midnight on Dec 29 Samoa leaped to Dec 31 to align itself with trading partners. For the country’s 186,000 citizens, Dec 30, 2011 will simply not exist.
(SFC, 12/29/11, p.A2)
Dec 31 Stalin’s 70th birthday in 1949 was the occasion for a world-wide Communist celebration. Several Stalin “Peace prizes" were announced as part of the Soviet “peace offensive" of the cold war.
(EWH, 1968, p.1197)
Dec 31 The Nation of Czechoslovakia officially ended with division into two Nations: Slovakia and the Czech Republic in 1992.
(HFA, '96, p.44)
Chinese Calendar
2010 Feb 14, This day marked a new year according to the Chinese calendar, as it moved from the reign of the Ox to the year of the Tiger. The Chinese calendar is thought to have been formulated around 500 BC, though elements of it date back at least to the Shang Dynasty at around 1,000 BC.
(http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/yearofthetigerallaboutthechinesezodiac)
JEWISH CALENDAR
The Jewish calendar is lunisolar and used to determine religious holidays. It is reckoned from 3761BC and was established by Hillel II in the 4th century AD.
(WUD, 1994, p. 767)
Tishri = the 1st month. The beginning of the civil year.
Heshvan
Kislev
Tebet
Shebat
Adar
Nisan = The 7th month. the beginning of the ecclesiastical year.
Iyar
Sivan
Tammuz = The 10th month corresponding to part of June and July.
(HFA, '96, p.32)
Ab
Elul
Veadar = A 29 day intercalary month added 7 times in every 19-year cycle in order to adjust the calendar to the solar cycle. The ecclesiastical year begins with Nisan and the civil year with Tishri.
Mayan Calendar:
Each of the 20 named days in the Maya calendar was essentially deified.
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