How it all began

By Aryadasa Ratnasinghe

Quite early, the Romans, in their history, had a civil year of 355 days, but the seasons depended on the solar year, which was about 11 days longer than the lunar year, and in order to bring the two years in harmony, additional dates were intercalated. In 46 BC (2,044 years ago), Julius Caesar introduced the year of 365 days, and an extra day in every fourth year (now known as the leap year), to suit the solar cycle. He took the length of the solar year as 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 46 seconds to be exact. When Julius Caesar reformed the calendar in 45 BC., he fixed January 1 as the beginning of the year. This was used in England as the first day of the year, from the time of the Conquest (the acquisition of the throne of England by William, the Duke of Normandy in 1066). After 1155, March 25 was regarded as the beginning of the year, in conformity with the continental custom. In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII (1502-1585), reformed the calendar and introduced his New Style Calendar, with January 1 as New Year's Day. It was adopted by most European countries including Italy, France, Germany, Spain and Portugal. It is this calendar that is now in use throughout the world.

England with Russia and Sweden adhered to the old style calendar until 1751, when Lord Chesterfield took the matter up and tried to rouse interest in England to follow the Gregorian calendar. The English calendar was, by comparison with the continental, eleven days out. Lord Chesterfield in collaboration with Lord MacClesfield, the mathematician, and Bradley, the astronomer, drew up a scheme for correction of the error by the government. Having obtained the approval of the government, the year 1752 began on January 1, instead of March 25, and in rectifying the accumulated error of 11 days in the old style calendar, the day following September 2 was made September 14. This change was made with much opposition because the people of England considered it as a wicked concession to Rome, and there was the popular outcry '' Give us back our 11 days''. 

The year immediately preceding the birth of Christ is called 1 BC., and the year immediately following as AD 1, and the birth was fixed at 0, Joseph Jestusscaliger tried to obviate these difficulties in 1582, by his invention of what is known as the Julian period. His period began in 4713 BC., so that the year 4714 of the Julian period corresponded to AD 1. He also estimated 7980 years in a Julian period. 

According to the Septuagint version of the Bible, the creation of the world had taken place 6000 years before the birth of Christ, and 2250 years before the Great Deluge (Flood). According to the modern scientific interpretation, '' the creation of the world cannot be fixed with any definiteness whatever, and must have taken place at a far earlier period than what has been suggested.'' According to the calendar, January is the first month of the year, dedicated by the Romans to Janus, the two-faced god of doors, whose temple in Rome is closed in time of peace. February is the month of expidation. March is the month of Mars, the Roman god of war. April is the month of festivals. May is the month sacred to Maia, the mother of Mercury, the Roman god of merchandise, theft and eloquence, messenger of the gods, identified with the Greek god Hermes. June is dedicated to the wife of Jupiter, identified with the Greek Hera, the special protectress of marriage and guardian of women from birth to death.

July is the month in which Julius Caesar was born in 102 BC. August is named after the Roman Emperor Augustus (BC 31- 14 AD). September is reminiscent of the massacres in Paris in 1792. October is the eighth month in the Roman calendar and Octobrists are members of the Russian Moderate Liberal Party who made the Tsar's manifesto in 1905. November is the ninth month of the Roman year. December is the last month of the year, and reminds of those who took part in the Russian conspiracy in 1825.

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