Happy New Year

Changing to a new year can cause problems, especially when you have to write a check, or otherwise write the date down, many people will continue to use 2003 for some time. I am reminded of the change from the Julian Calendar to the Gregorian Calendar, promoted by Pope Gregory XIII back in 1582. That year, by order of the Pope, people went to bed on the night of October 4 and when they woke up the next morning, it was October 15. The reason was that the previous calendar, the Julian calendar, was not aligned with the earth’s orbit around the sun, and so the holiday Easter kept happening later and later each year. The new Gregorian Calendar, in addition to jumping ahead 10 days, introduced leap years and other adjustments and was much more in sync with the earth’s actual orbit. The British Empire, however, delayed the change for almost 200 years. When the change was made in 1752, eleven days had to be deleted. Greece did not make the change until 1924.

So next time you write down the wrong year on a check, think of the consternation that those poor folks went through in changing from the old Julian Calendar to the new Gregorian Calendar. And Happy New Years to everyone!