History of the calendar

We would find it virtually impossible today to manage our time and events of our day- to -day activities without a calendar. However, calendars were not around since time began... The modern Gregorian calendar we use was adopted during the time of Pope Gregory XIII (1502 – 1585) . Before today’s Gregorian calendar was adopted, it was the older Julian calendar introduced by Julius Caesar that was used widely. But the Julian calendar was not so perfect. It wasn’t until 1582, by which time Caesar’s calendar had drifted a full 10 days off course, that Pope Gregory finally reformed the Julian calendar. The “new” calendar, as we know it today, was not adopted uniformly across Europe until well into the 18th century. When Julius Caesar introduced his calendar in 45 B.C.E., he made January 1 the start of the year, and it was always the date on which the Solar Number and the Golden Number were incremented. The Byzantine Empire used a year starting on September 1, but they didn’t count years since the birth of Christ, instead they counted years since the creation of the world which they dated to September 1, 5509 B.C.E. Since about 1600 most countries have used January 1 as the first day of the year. Italy and England, however, did not make January 1 official until around 1750.

In England (but not Scotland) three different years were used.

It is sometimes claimed that having the year start on January 1 was part of the Gregorian calendar reform. This is not true. This myth has probably started because in 1752 England moved the start of the year to January 1 and also changed to the Gregorian calendar. But in most other countries the two events were not related.

The concept of a year “zero” is a modern myth (but a very popular one). In our calendar, C.E. 1 follows immediately after 1 B.C.E. with no intervening year zero. So, a person who was born in 10 B.C.E. and died in C.E. 10, would have died at the age of 19, not 20.

You may wonder why February has only 28 days?January and February both date from about the time of Rome’s founding. They were added to a calendar that had been divided into ten month-like periods whose lengths varied from 20 to 35 or more days. A winter season was not included, so those period lengths are believed to have been intended to reflect growth stages of crops and cattle. When introduced, January was given 29 days and put at the beginning of the calendar year. February was given 23 days and put at the end.

Then, for an undetermined period shortly after Rome’s founding, months were said to have begun when a new moon was first sighted. At some later time, month lengths were separated from lunations and again became fixed. At that time, February’s original length was extended by five days which gave it a total of 28.

Read more about the early Roman calendar.

How the months got their names

In the modern world we keep track of time by counting not only in seconds, minutes and hours but also by days, months and years, using clocks and calendars. However, the human race did not always have such defined time periods or any instruments to do so. In fact, the calendar we are so familiar with today came into being during the times of the ancient Romans.

Today most children know the 12 months that make up each and every year on our calendars even by the time they are enrolled in kindergarten or first grade. There are many poems and rhymes too that help us keep track of each month.

 Would you believe that January was not always the first month of the year? The ancient Romans used a different calendar system, and their year began in March and ended in February! Now the modern calendars will begin in January and end in December. In 1582, Pope Gregory adjusted the calendar, so most western nations began celebrating the start of the year on January 1. This new calendar became known as the “Gregorian calendar.”

Let’s take a look at how the ancient Romans chose the names of the ‘yearly dozen’ - the 12 months of the year. However, we have introduced it in the modern order of the calandar and not the original order of ancient Rome.

January

This month received its name from Janus, a Roman god who represented all beginnings and was considered to be the god of ‘doors’. In fact, you can find statues of Janus now in museums. These statues have two faces that are representative of Janus’s

ability to see all things past and future. How fitting that the name of this god would be given to the month of January.

February

Around 690 B.C., Numa Pompilius turned a period of celebration at the end of the year into a month of its own, named after the festival Februa. This is how February got its name.Februa (or Februatio) was an ancient purification festival held early in the springtime. This was the time when houses and buildings were cleansed and purged; and life for people was also seen as becoming cleansed and renewed.

There was a god was named Februus by the Romans, but the calendar month (as well as this was named for the ceremonial, cleansing festival. Thus, in this instance, the name of February is due to the Februatio celebration and not directly to the Roman god.

March

The stormy and windy month of March is believed to have been named in honour of ‘Mars’, the god of war. This is also part of the reason that many people consider the coming of March to be similar to the ferocious invasion of a windy, blustery lion (war god).The ancient Romans insisted that all wars cease during the time of celebration between the old and new years. Since March was the first month of the new year in ancient Rome, some historians believe the Romans named March after Mars, the Roman god of war.

April

Three theories exist regarding the origin of April’s name. Some say April got its name from the Latin word meaning “second” since April was the second month on the ancient calendar. Others claim it comes from “aperire,” a Latin word meaning “to open,” because it represents the opening of buds and flowers in spring. Still others think April was named after the goddess Aphrodite.

May

May was named after Maia, an earth goddess of growing plants. She was a Roman goddess; the mother of Mercury and the daughter of the god, Atlas. The goddess Maia was in charge of the newly growing plants that appeared each year in the springtime. Today the month of May retains the name that still honours this Roman goddess.

June

The Romans named June after Juno, the queen of the gods and patroness of marriage and weddings. Juno was especially important because she was married to the most important Roman god, Jupiter. The month of June is a time when many celebrations take place, and this was even true in ancient times as well. Today it is a popular month for weddings.

July and August

The months of July and August were named for two Roman ruler, Julius Caesar and Augustus Caesar. July was named after Julius Caesar in 44 B.C. Previously, July was called “Quintilis,” which is Latin for “fifth.” August was named after Augustus Caesar in 8 B.C. Previously, August was called “Sextillia,” which was Latin for “sixth.”

The months of September through December do not have such noteworthy legends and stories surrounding their names. These months have more modest histories pertaining to how they were named.

September: September’s name comes from septem, Latin for “seven.”
October: October’s name comes from octo, Latin for “eight.”
November: November’s name comes from novem, Latin for “nine.”

December: December’s name come from decem, Latin for “ten.”September, October, November and December have Latin names designating their numerical occurrence on the calendar.

These months were named during a time when the calendar year began with March. 

Our modern calendar still reflects these numerical names even though the number is no longer accurate.Originally the months of the year had a different arrangement on the calendar.

Days of the week poem...:

Monday’s Child

Of poems referring to all the days of the week, Monday’s child is probably the oldest. It first appeared in 1838 in a book about the Traditions of Devonshire,by A. E. Bray. So the poem itself is likely much older. The author is unknown.

Monday’s child is fair of face,
Tuesday’s child is full of grace,
Wednesday’s child is full of woe,
Thursday’s child has far to go,
Friday’s child is loving and giving,
Saturday’s child works hard for his living,
And the child that is born on the Sabbath day
Is bonny and blithe, and good, and gay.

Though not as popular as other children’s poems, “Monday’s Child” is well-known enough that references to it are found throughout literature, even in book titles. Wednesday’s child seems to get the most play, perhaps because it has the best potential for drama. However, Thursday’s child could be the subject of an epic.

There has been some speculation that each line bears a reference to the mythological god represented by the day. However, it should be noted that some of these relationships are extremely tentative.

Monday ,Moonday - fair of face, because the moon is thought of to have a face.

Tuesday, Tyr - Norse God of War. He was graceful in battle.

Wednesday, Woden - Messenger God, who carried the dead. Bringer perhaps of bad tidings and woe.

Thursday, Thor - God of Thunder. It is thought that far to go might refer to far off rumblings of the weather.

Friday, Frida - Goddess of Love would be loving and giving.

Saturday, Saturn was the Roman god of agriculture, always toiling, in tilling the soil - working hard for his living.

Sunday, of course refers to the sun and the bonny, blithe, good, and gay are qualities sometimes attributed to the sun, especially in climes when he is not often seen.

Meanings of days translated from Latin and other old languages

Sunday - dies Solis, “Day of the Sun”
Monday - Lunae dies, “Day of the Moon”
Tuesday - diesMartis, “Day of Mars”
Wednesday - Mercuru dies, Day of Mercury
Thursday - from Norse Thursdagr, “Thor’s day”, Germanic translation of Latin dies Jovis.
Friday - Middle and Old English.. Frigedaeg, “Freya’s day”
Saturday - partial translation of Latin Saturni dies, “Saturn’s day