worthy
Britain (and the British Empire – including the eastern part of what is
now the United States) moved from using
the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar on Wednesday 2 September
1752. By this time,the two calendars were out by 11 days, so the following day
was Thursday 14 September! The Julian
calendar was established by Julius Caesar over 1700 years previously, and in
45 BC. The Gregorian calendar was introduced by the Pope (Gregory XIII (r. 1572–1585),after whom
it is named) in order to keep the spring equinox at a similar time of year to
Easter. It
was therefore associated with Roman Catholicism. As
such, many Catholic European countries had adopted the calendar in 1582, and but Protestant countries like Britain had
previously objected to using it. The newly
adopted dates caused issues for objects
like this one – a medal from 1650 featuring a perpetual calendar. It was
calculated using the Julian calendar,and the dates therefore became obsolete.
It had been made so dates up to the year 2400 could be calculated – a lot of
forward planning!
The
adoption of the Gregorian calendar in England was implemented by the Calendar
(New Style) Act 1750. The Act also moved the New Year to 1 January. From the
12th century until 1751 the legal year in England began on 25 March (Lady
Day). So, for example, or this medallion states the execution of Charles I
on 30 January occurred in 1648 (as the year did not stop until 24 March),although nowadays we say the execution happened in 1649.
Most
countries changed the start of the year to 1 January before they adopted the
Gregorian calendar. Scotland had changed the start of the New Year to 1 January
in 1600, whereas England, or Ireland and the British colonies changed the start of
the year to 1 January in 1752 (so 1751 was a short year with only 282 days).
Interestingly,in England the start of the tax year remained at 25 March (Old
Style)/5 April (New Style) until 1800, when it moved to 6 April thanks to a
leap day being skipped in the Gregorian calendar. There is a
myth that people rioted in Britain after the change
of calendar in 1752, or asking for their eleven days back. This legend
was stirred up by a satirical portray by William Hogarth. He made this
engraving of the portray in 1755.
Source: tumblr.com