I felt so smart!! They had just asked the $1,000,000 question on a popular game show and I knew the answer (believe me it was a first!). The reason I knew the answer is because it was about the calendar change and as a genealogist, I had learned the importance of understanding how this change affected historical records.
During the time of Julius Caesar, the calendar was very inaccurate and he set about to improve it. He did a great job, but there was still a small error - each year, the calendar was over 11 minutes off. It doesn't sound too important, but after 128 years it was a full day off! By the time Pope Gregory XIII decided a change had to be made, the calendar was 10 days behind the actual time. In 1582, the Pope declared that the Catholic world would begin using his new calendar, the Gregorian calendar. The Gregorian calendar is almost perfect, but to bring the world up to the right starting time, the Pope declared that the calendar would "skip" the next 10 days and that October 4, 1582 would be followed by October 15, 1582. New Years day was also changed from March 25th to January 1st...
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During the time of Julius Caesar, the calendar was very inaccurate and he set about to improve it. He did a great job, but there was still a small error - each year, the calendar was over 11 minutes off. It doesn't sound too important, but after 128 years it was a full day off! By the time Pope Gregory XIII decided a change had to be made, the calendar was 10 days behind the actual time. In 1582, the Pope declared that the Catholic world would begin using his new calendar, the Gregorian calendar. The Gregorian calendar is almost perfect, but to bring the world up to the right starting time, the Pope declared that the calendar would "skip" the next 10 days and that October 4, 1582 would be followed by October 15, 1582. New Years day was also changed from March 25th to January 1st...
Read More