07.12.2015
Gregorian calendar - modern system calculus based on astronomical phenomena, namely, on the cyclic revolution of our planet around the Sun. The length of the year in this system is 365 days, with every fourth year becoming a leap year and equal to 364 days.
History of origin
The date of approval of the Gregorian calendar is October 4, 1582. This calendar replaced the Julian calendar in force until that time. Majority modern countries lives exactly according to the new calendar: look at any calendar and you will get visual representation about the Gregorian system. According to the Gregorian Calculus, the year is divided into 12 months, the duration of which is 28, 29, 30 and 31 days. The calendar was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII.
The transition to a new calculation entailed the following changes:
- At the time of adoption, the Gregorian calendar immediately shifted the current date by 10 days and corrected the errors accumulated by the previous system;
- In the new calculus, a more correct rule for determining a leap year began to apply;
- The rules for calculating the day of Christian Easter have been modified.
In the year the new system was adopted, Spain, Italy, France, and Portugal joined the chronology, and a couple of years later other European countries joined them. In Russia, the transition to the Gregorian calendar took place only in the 20th century - in 1918. In the territory under the control of Soviet power, it was announced that after January 31, 1918, February 14 would immediately follow. For a long time citizens new country could not get used to the new system: the introduction of the Gregorian calendar in Russia caused confusion in documents and minds. In official papers, dates of birth and others significant events for a long time indicated according to the style and new style.
By the way, the Orthodox Church still lives according to the Julian calendar (unlike the Catholic one), so the days church holidays(Easter, Christmas) in Catholic countries do not coincide with Russian ones. According to senior clergy For the Orthodox Church, the transition to the Gregorian system will lead to canonical violations: the rules of the Apostles do not allow the celebration of Holy Easter to begin on the same day as the Jewish pagan holiday.
China was the last to switch to the new timekeeping system. This happened in 1949 after the proclamation of the People's Republic of China. In the same year, the world-accepted calculation of years was established in China - from the Nativity of Christ.
At the time of approval of the Gregorian calendar, the difference between the two calculation systems was 10 days. By now, due to different quantities For leap years, the discrepancy increased to 13 days. By March 1, 2100, the difference will already reach 14 days.
Compared to the Julian calendar, the Gregorian calendar is more accurate from an astronomical point of view: it is as close as possible to the tropical year. The reason for the change in systems was the gradual shift of the day of the equinox in the Julian calendar: this caused a discrepancy between the Easter full moons and the astronomical ones.
All modern calendars have a familiar appearance to us precisely thanks to the transition of the leadership of the Catholic Church to a new time calculation. If the Julian calendar continued to function, the discrepancies between the actual (astronomical) equinoxes and Easter holidays would increase even more, which would introduce confusion into the very principle of determining church holidays.
By the way, the Gregorian calendar itself is not 100% accurate from an astronomical point of view, but the error in it, according to astronomers, will accumulate only after 10,000 years of use.
People continue to use it successfully new system time is already more than 400 years. A calendar is still a useful and functional thing that everyone needs to coordinate dates, plan business and personal life.
Modern printing production has reached unprecedented levels technological development. Any commercial or public organization can order calendars with their own symbols from a printing house: they will be produced promptly, with high quality, and at an adequate price.
Christmas is the most fabulous, most magical holiday. A holiday that promises a miracle. The most long-awaited holiday of the year. Christmas is more important than New Year. This is how it is in the West, and this is how it was in Russia before the revolution. It is Christmas that is the warmest family celebration with the obligatory Christmas tree and the expectation of gifts from Santa Claus or Father Frost.
So why do Christians have two Christmases today? Why do Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas on January 7, and Catholics and Protestants on December 25?
And the point here is not at all about religious differences, but just about the calendar. Initially, Europe used the Julian calendar. This calendar appeared before our era and was generally accepted until the 16th century. The Julian calendar was named after Julius Caesar, who introduced this calendar in 45 BC. to replace the outdated Roman calendar. The Julian calendar was developed by a group of Alexandrian astronomers led by Sosigenes. Sosigenes is an Alexandrian scientist, a scientist from the very same Alexandria, which was located on Egyptian lands. He was invited to Rome by Caesar to develop a calendar. He is also known for his philosophical treatises, for example, a commentary on Aristotle's treatise De Caelo. That's just him philosophical works have not survived to this day.
The Julian calendar was developed based on ancient Egyptian knowledge of astronomy. In the Julian calendar, the year begins on January 1, since it is on this day in Ancient Rome The newly elected consuls took office. The year consisted of 365 days and was divided into 12 months. Once every four years there was a leap year, to which one day was added - February 29. But the calendar was not accurate enough. Every 128 years, one extra day accumulated. And Christmas, which in the Middle Ages was celebrated in Western Europe almost on the days of the winter solstice, it began to gradually move away closer and closer to spring. The day also shifted spring equinox, by which the date of Easter was determined.
And then the Popes came to the understanding that the calendar was not accurate and needed to be improved. Gregory XIII became the pope who carried out the calendar reform. It is in his honor new calendar and was called Gregorian. Before Gregory XIII, attempts to change the calendar were made by Popes Paul III and Pius IV, but their attempts were not successful. The new Gregorian calendar was introduced on October 4, 1582. The development of the calendar on behalf of the pope was carried out by astronomers Christopher Clavius and Aloysius Lilius. After the introduction of the new calendar in 1582, the date 4 October was immediately followed by Thursday. new date– October 15th Friday. This is exactly how far behind the Gregorian calendar the Julian calendar was by that time.
The Gregorian calendar consists of 365 days per year; a leap year has 366 days. But at the same time, the calculation of leap years has become more advanced. So a leap year is a year whose number is a multiple of 4. Years divisible by 100 are leap years if they are divided by 400. Thus, 2000 was a leap year, 1600 was a leap year, and 1800 or 1900, for example, were not leap years. An error in one day now accumulates over 10,000 years, in the Julian - over 128 years.
With each century, the difference in days between the Gregorian and Julian calendars increases by exactly one day.
By 1582, the initially united Christian church had already split into two parts - Orthodox and Catholic. In 1583, Pope Gregory XIII, head catholic church, sent an embassy to the head of the Orthodox Church, Patriarch of Constantinople Jeremiah II, with a proposal to also switch to the Gregorian calendar, but he refused.
So it turned out that Catholics and Protestants celebrate Christmas on December 25 according to the new Gregorian calendar, and the Orthodox - Russian, Jerusalem, Serbian, Georgian Orthodox Churches and Mount Athos - according to the old one Julian calendar and also December 25, but which in the modern Gregorian calendar actually falls on January 7.
The Constantinople, Antioch, Alexandria, Cyprus, Bulgarian, Romanian, Greek and some other Orthodox churches adopted the New Julian calendar, which is similar to the Gregorian calendar, and just like Catholics celebrate Christmas on December 25.
By the way, in the Russian Orthodox Church there were also attempts to switch to the New Julian calendar, similar to the Gregorian one. On October 15, 1923, it was introduced into the Russian Orthodox Church by Patriarch Tikhon. This innovation was accepted by Moscow parishes, but it caused disagreements within the Church itself and on November 8, 1923, by decree of Patriarch Tikhon, “it was temporarily postponed.”
IN Russian Empire Even in the 19th and early 20th centuries, chronology, unlike in Europe, was carried out according to the Julian calendar. The Gregorian calendar was introduced only after the revolution in 1918 by decree of the Council of People's Commissars. Then such names as the “old style” - the Julian calendar and the “new style” - the Gregorian calendar appeared. Christmas began to be celebrated after the New Year. And besides the New Year itself, the Old Year also appeared New Year, basically the same New Year, but according to the old Julian calendar.
This is the calendar story. Merry Christmas, and perhaps Christmas, and New Year, or New Years. Happy holidays to you!
- number system large gaps time, based on frequency visible movements celestial bodies.
Most common solar calendar, which is based on the solar (tropical) year - the period of time between two successive passages of the center of the Sun through the point of the vernal equinox.
A tropical year has approximately 365.2422 average solar days.
The solar calendar includes the Julian calendar, the Gregorian calendar and some others.
Modern calendar called the Gregorian (new style), it was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582 and replaced the Julian calendar (old style), which had been in use since the 45th century BC.
The Gregorian calendar is a further refinement of the Julian calendar.
In the Julian calendar, proposed by Julius Caesar, the average length of a year in an interval of four years was 365.25 days, which is 11 minutes 14 seconds longer than the tropical year. Over time, the onset seasonal phenomena according to the Julian calendar accounted for more and more early dates. Particularly strong discontent was caused by the constant shift in the date of Easter, associated with the spring equinox. In 325, the Council of Nicaea decreed a single date for Easter for all christian church.
© Public Domain
© Public Domain
In subsequent centuries, many proposals were made to improve the calendar. The proposals of the Neapolitan astronomer and physician Aloysius Lilius (Luigi Lilio Giraldi) and the Bavarian Jesuit Christopher Clavius were approved by Pope Gregory XIII. He issued a bull (message) on February 24, 1582 introducing two important additions to the Julian calendar: 10 days were removed from the 1582 calendar - October 4 was immediately followed by October 15. This measure made it possible to preserve March 21 as the date of the vernal equinox. In addition, three out of every four century years were to be considered ordinary years and only those divisible by 400 were to be considered leap years.
1582 was the first year of the Gregorian calendar, called the new style.
Gregorian calendar different countries was introduced at various times. The first countries to switch to the new style in 1582 were Italy, Spain, Portugal, Poland, France, Holland and Luxembourg. Then in the 1580s it was introduced in Austria, Switzerland, and Hungary. In the 18th century, the Gregorian calendar began to be used in Germany, Norway, Denmark, Great Britain, Sweden and Finland, and in the 19th century - in Japan. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Gregorian calendar was introduced in China, Bulgaria, Serbia, Romania, Greece, Turkey and Egypt.
In Rus', along with the adoption of Christianity (10th century), the Julian calendar was established. Because the new religion was borrowed from Byzantium, the years were counted according to the Constantinople era “from the creation of the world” (5508 BC). By decree of Peter I in 1700, it was introduced in Russia European chronology- "from the Nativity of Christ."
December 19, 7208 from the creation of the world, when the reformation decree was issued, in Europe corresponded to December 29, 1699 from the Nativity of Christ according to the Gregorian calendar.
At the same time, the Julian calendar was preserved in Russia. The Gregorian calendar was introduced after October revolution 1917 - from February 14, 1918. The Russian Orthodox Church, preserving traditions, lives according to the Julian calendar.
The difference between the old and new styles is 11 days for the 18th century, 12 days for the 19th century, 13 days for the 20th and 21st centuries, 14 days for the 22nd century.
Although the Gregorian calendar is quite consistent with natural phenomena, it is also not completely accurate. The length of the year in the Gregorian calendar is 26 seconds longer than the tropical year and accumulates an error of 0.0003 days per year, which is three days per 10 thousand years. The Gregorian calendar also does not take into account the slowing rotation of the Earth, which lengthens the day by 0.6 seconds per 100 years.
The modern structure of the Gregorian calendar also does not fully meet the needs public life. Chief among its shortcomings is the variability of the number of days and weeks in months, quarters and half-years.
There are four main problems with the Gregorian calendar:
— Theoretically, the civil (calendar) year should have the same length as the astronomical (tropical) year. However, this is not possible because tropical year does not contain an integer number of days. Because of the need to add an extra day to the year from time to time, there are two types of years - ordinary and leap years. Since the year can begin on any day of the week, this gives seven types of ordinary years and seven types of leap years—for a total of 14 types of years. To fully reproduce them you need to wait 28 years.
— The length of the months varies: they can contain from 28 to 31 days, and this unevenness leads to certain difficulties in economic calculations and statistics.|
— Neither ordinary nor leap years contain an integer number of weeks. Half-years, quarters and months also do not contain the whole and equal amount weeks
— From week to week, from month to month and from year to year, the correspondence of dates and days of the week changes, so it is difficult to establish the moments of various events.
In 1954 and 1956, drafts of a new calendar were discussed at sessions of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), but final decision the issue was postponed.
In Russia, the State Duma was proposing to return the country to the Julian calendar from January 1, 2008. Deputies Viktor Alksnis, Sergei Baburin, Irina Savelyeva and Alexander Fomenko proposed to establish transition period from December 31, 2007, when for 13 days chronology will be carried out simultaneously according to the Julian and Gregorian calendars. In April 2008, the bill was rejected by a majority vote.
The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources
The meaning of the GRIGORIAN CALENDAR in the Orthodox Encyclopedia Tree
GREGORIAN CALENDAR
Open Orthodox encyclopedia"TREE".
The Gregorian calendar is the most widely used calendar today. It was proposed by Aloysius Lilius, a physician from Naples, and adopted by Pope Gregory XIII in accordance with the recommendations of the Council of Trent (1545 - 1563) to correct the errors of the old Julian calendar. It was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII by papal bull of February 24, 1582. This bull is called "Inter Gravissimas" after its first words.
In the Gregorian calendar, the length of the tropical year is approximated by the number 365 97/400 days = 365.2425 days. Thus, the tropical year will shift relative to the Gregorian calendar by one day after 3300 years.
The approximation of 365 97/400 is achieved by introducing 97 leap years for every 400 years.
In the Gregorian calendar, there are 97 leap years for every 400 years:
Every year whose number is a multiple of 4 is a leap year.
However, every year that is a multiple of 100 is not a leap year.
However, every year that is a multiple of 400 is still a leap year.
Thus, 1700, 1800, 1900, 2100 and 2200 are not leap years. However, 1600, 2000 and 2400 are leap years.
Easter
The principle of determining the date of Easter in the Gregorian calendar generally preserves the principle of the Alexandrian Paschal (the Sunday after the first full moon after the equinox), but the equinox is, naturally, considered to be March 21 according to the new style, which (today) is 13 days earlier than according to the Julian reckoning ( and almost coincides with the astronomical one - for example, in 2005 it was March 20 AD) For more details, see the article by Paschal.
When did Country X switch from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar?
A papal bull of February 1582 decreed that 10 days should be excluded from October 1582, so that October 4 would be followed by October 15 and then a new calendar would have to be used.
This was observed in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain. Other Catholic countries soon followed. However, Protestant countries were in no hurry to make the transition, and countries with Greek Orthodox Church did not switch to the new calendar until the early 1900s.
IN next list transition dates in some countries are provided. It is very strange, but in many cases there is disagreement regarding exact date. In some cases different sources give very different dates. This list does not include everyone different opinions about when the transition occurred.
Albania: December 1912
Austria: Dates vary in different areas
See also sections Czechoslovakia and Hungary
Belgium: See section Netherlands
Canada: The transition occurred at different times in different areas.
Mainland Nova Scotia:
Rest of Canada: Gregorian calendar since early European settlement
China: The Gregorian calendar replaced the Chinese calendar in 1912, however the Gregorian calendar was not used throughout the country until the Communist Revolution of 1949.
Egypt: 1875
Finland: At that time part of Sweden. (However, Finland later became part of Russia, which still used the Julian calendar. The Gregorian calendar remained official in Finland, but in some cases the Julian calendar was also used.)
Strasbourg: February 1682
Germany: Dates vary by country:
Catholic states - various dates in 1583-1585
(Lots of local options)
Greece: March 9, 1924 followed by March 23, 1924 (according to some sources, in 1916 and 1920)
Ireland: see UK
Japan: The Gregorian calendar was introduced on January 1, 1873 and complemented the traditional Japanese calendar.
Latvia: during German occupation from 1915 to 1918
Lithuania: 1915
Netherlands (including Belgium):
Limburg and southern provinces (currently Belgium):
Groningen:
switched back to Julian in the summer of 1594
Norway: then part of Denmark
Romania: March 31, 1919 followed by April 14, 1919 (parts of the country with the Greek Orthodox Church may have switched later)
Russia: January 31, 1918 was followed by February 14, 1918 (in eastern parts country transition may not have occurred until 1920)
Scotland: There is much uncertainty regarding Scotland's transition. Various sources There are differences of opinion, some believe that the transition occurred along with the whole of Great Britain, others believe that it happened earlier.
Switzerland:
Catholic cantons: 1583, 1584 or 1597
Protestant cantons: December 31, 1700 followed by January 12, 1701 (Many local variations)
USA: Various areas moved at different times.
Along the east coast: with Britain in 1752.
Mississippi Valley: with France in 1582.
Texas, Florida, California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico: with Spain in 1582.
Washington, Oregon: with Great Britain in 1752.
Alaska: In October 1867, when Alaska became part of the United States.
Wales: see UK
Yugoslavia: 1919
In Sweden the transition took place in a very interesting way. Sweden decided to gradually switch from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar, without introducing leap years, from 1700 to 1740. Thus, 11 extra days had to be eliminated, and on March 1, 1740 the transition to the Gregorian calendar was to be completed. (However, during this period the calendar in Sweden would not coincide with any other calendar!)
Thus, the year 1700 (which was a leap year in the Julian calendar) was not a leap year in Sweden. However, by mistake, 1704 and 1708 became leap years. This resulted in a loss of synchronization with both the Julian and Gregorian calendars, and it was decided to revert to the Julian calendar. To achieve this, an extra day was added in 1712, making the year a double leap year! Thus, in 1712, Sweden had 30 days in February.
Later, in 1753, Sweden switched to the Gregorian calendar, skipping 11 days like other countries.
Sources
http://alebedev.narod.ru/lib/lib60_4.html
TREE - open Orthodox encyclopedia: http://drevo.pravbeseda.ru
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Orthodox encyclopedia Tree. 2012
See also interpretations, synonyms, meanings of the word and what the GRIGORIAN CALENDAR is in Russian in dictionaries, encyclopedias and reference books:
- GREGORIAN CALENDAR
only units , stable combination Modern calendar, aka: a new style based on the number system introduced in 1582... - GREGORIAN CALENDAR
new style, see art. ... - GREGORIAN CALENDAR in big Soviet encyclopedia, TSB:
calendar, new style, chronology system introduced in 1582 under Pope Gregory XIII (hence the name). See Calendar... - GREGORIAN CALENDAR
(lat. gregorianus) new style (see calendar... - GREGORIAN CALENDAR
[new style (see calendar... - GREGORIAN CALENDAR
new style, see art. ... - CALENDAR V Encyclopedic Dictionary Brockhaus and Euphron.
- CALENDAR in the Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron.
- CALENDAR in the Popular Explanatory Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Russian Language:
-ar "ya, m. 1) A system, a method of calculating time, based on the periodicity of natural phenomena (seasons, phases of the Moon). Solar calendar. Julian calendar. Gregorian ... - CALENDAR in Modern explanatory dictionary, TSB:
(from Latin calendarium, lit. - debt book; in Ancient Rome, debtors paid interest on the day of the calendar), a number system for large intervals ... - CALENDAR in Miller's Dream Book, dream book and interpretation of dreams:
To dream that you are holding a calendar in your hands means that you will be very careful and methodical in your habits... - CALENDAR in the Encyclopedia Japan from A to Z:
The traditional Japanese calendar, like the calendar of many other peoples East Asia, is lunisolar. It is believed that it was introduced in Japan... - CALENDAR
SHADOW - see SHADOW CALENDAR… - CALENDAR in the Dictionary of Economic Terms:
PAYMENT - see PAYMENT CALENDAR... - CALENDAR in the Orthodox Encyclopedia Tree:
Open Orthodox encyclopedia "THREE". January February March 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 … - CALENDAR in the Big Encyclopedic Dictionary:
reference book, contains a sequential list of numbers, days of the week and months of the year, often with other information and illustrations (for example, “Annual ... - CALENDAR BIBLIOGR. in the Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Euphron:
(bibliogr.) - painting of the days famous year, indicating the time of moving holidays, indicating which days of the month correspond to the days of the weeks of that year, ... - CALENDAR
[Latin calendarium, from calendae calends (first day of the month)] 1) a time reckoning system based on periodic natural phenomena: the change of day and ... - CALENDAR in the Encyclopedic Dictionary:
arya, m. 1. Method of counting days in a year. and the Julian calendar (“old style”, introduced in 46 AD under Julius Caesar). Gregorian... - CALENDAR in the Encyclopedic Dictionary:
, -i, m. 1. Method of counting days in a year. Solar complex (in which the movement of the Sun and the changes of lunar phases). … - CALENDAR
REPUBLICAN CALENDAR, see Republican calendar... - CALENDAR in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
CALENDAR, reference publication, contains sequential. a list of numbers, days of the week and months of the year, often with other information and illustrations (for example, ... - CALENDAR in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
CALENDAR (from Latin Calendarium - debt book), a system for counting long periods of time, basic. on the periodicity of visible movements of celestial bodies. Need... - GREGORIAN in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
GRIGORIAN CALENDAR (new style), chronology system - solar calendar, introduced by Pope Gregory XIII (hence the name) in 1582; is further... - CALENDAR
calendar "ry, calendars", calendar", calendar "y, calendar", calendar "m, calendar "ry, calendars", calendar, calendar "mi, calendar", ... - GREGORIAN in the Complete Accented Paradigm according to Zaliznyak:
Gregorian, Gregorian, Gregorian, Gregorian, Gregorian, Gregorian, Gregorian, Gregorian, Gregorian, Gregorian, Gregorian, Gregorian, Gregorian Gregorian, Gregorian, Gregorian, Gregorian, Gregorian, Gregorian, Gregorian, Gregorian, ... - CALENDAR in the New Dictionary of Foreign Words:
(lat. calendarium calendae calends (first day of the month)) 1) a time reckoning system based on periodic natural phenomena: the change of seasons ... - CALENDAR in the Dictionary of Foreign Expressions:
[lat. calendarium 1. a time reckoning system based on periodic natural phenomena: the change of seasons (solar calendar), the change of phases of the moon (lunar ... - CALENDAR
cm. … - CALENDAR in Abramov's Dictionary of Synonyms:
monthbook, almanac, ... - CALENDAR in the Russian Synonyms dictionary:
address-calendar, diary, calendar book, book, menology, month book, schedule, calendar, ... - GREGORIAN in the dictionary of Synonyms of the Russian language.
- CALENDAR
m. 1) Information printed edition in the form of a table or book containing a sequential list of days of the year indicating various other information ... - GREGORIAN in the New Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language by Efremova:
adj. Associated with Pope Gregory XIII (about the chronology system introduced in 1582 instead of the Julian calendar and established in the Russian ... - CALENDAR
calendar,... - GREGORIAN in Lopatin’s Dictionary of the Russian Language:
- CALENDAR
calendar, … - GREGORIAN full spelling dictionary Russian language:
Gregorian (Gregorian... - CALENDAR in the Spelling Dictionary:
calendar,... - GREGORIAN in the Spelling Dictionary:
Grigori'anskiy (Grigori'anskiy... - CALENDAR in Ozhegov’s Dictionary of the Russian Language:
method of counting days in a year Solar calendar (in which the movement of the Sun and the changes in lunar phases are consistent). Juliansky K. (old style). ... - CALENDAR in Dahl's Dictionary:
husband. (calends, among the Romans, the first day of the month) a list of all days of the year, with indications and other related information; ...
Since by this time the difference between the old and new styles was 13 days, the decree ordered that after January 31, 1918, not February 1, but February 14. The same decree prescribed, until July 1, 1918, after the date of each day according to the new style, to write in brackets the number according to the old style: February 14 (1), February 15 (2), etc.
From the history of chronology in Russia.
The ancient Slavs, like many other peoples, initially based their calendar on the period of changing lunar phases. But already by the time of the adoption of Christianity, i.e. by the end of the 10th century. n. e., Ancient Rus' I used the lunisolar calendar.
Calendar of the ancient Slavs. It was not possible to definitively establish what the calendar of the ancient Slavs was. It is only known that initially time was counted by seasons. Probably, the 12-month period was also used at the same time moon calendar. In more late times The Slavs switched to a lunisolar calendar, in which an additional 13th month was inserted seven times every 19 years.
The most ancient monuments of Russian writing show that the months had purely Slavic names, the origin of which was closely related to natural phenomena. Moreover, the same months, depending on the climate of the places in which different tribes lived, received different names. So, January was called where sechen (the time of deforestation), where prosinets (after winter clouds appeared blue sky), where is the jelly (since it was becoming icy, cold), etc.; February—cut, snowy or severe (severe frosts); March - berezozol (there are several interpretations here: the birch begins to bloom; they took sap from birches; they burned the birch for coal), dry (the poorest in precipitation in the ancient Kievan Rus, in some places the earth was already dry, the sap (a reminder of birch sap); April - pollen (blooming of gardens), birch (beginning of birch flowering), duben, kviten, etc.; May - grass (grass turns green), summer, pollen; June - Cherven (cherries turn red), Izok (grasshoppers chirp - “Izoki”), Mlechen; July - lipets (linden blossoms), cherven (in the north, where phenological phenomena are delayed), serpen (from the word “sickle”, indicating the time of harvest); August - sickle, stubble, roar (from the verb “to roar” - the roar of deer, or from the word “glow” - cold dawns, and perhaps from “pasori” - polar lights); September - veresen (heather blossoms); Ruen (from Slavic root a word meaning wood that produces yellow dye); October - leaf fall, “pazdernik” or “kastrychnik” (pazdernik - hemp buds, the name for the south of Russia); November - gruden (from the word “heap” - frozen rut on the road), leaf fall (in the south of Russia); December - jelly, chest, prosinets.
The year began on March 1, and around this time agricultural work began.
Many ancient names of months later moved into the series Slavic languages and largely held in some modern languages, in particular in Ukrainian, Belarusian and Polish.
At the end of the 10th century. Ancient Rus' adopted Christianity. At the same time, the calendar used by the Romans came to us - the Julian calendar (based on solar year), with Roman names of months and a seven-day week. It counted years from the “creation of the world,” which allegedly occurred 5508 years before our chronology. This date - one of the many variants of eras from the “creation of the world” - was adopted in the 7th century. in Greece and has been used by the Orthodox Church for a long time.
For many centuries, the beginning of the year was considered March 1, but in 1492, in accordance with church tradition, the beginning of the year was officially moved to September 1 and was celebrated this way for more than two hundred years. However, a few months after Muscovites celebrated their next New Year on September 1, 7208, they had to repeat the celebration. This happened because on December 19, 7208, a personal decree of Peter I on the reform of the calendar in Russia was signed and promulgated, according to which a new beginning of the year was introduced - from January 1 and new era- Christian chronology (from the “Nativity of Christ”).
Peter's decree was called: "On the writing henceforth of Genvar from the 1st day of 1700 in all papers of the year from the Nativity of Christ, and not from the creation of the world." Therefore, the decree prescribed that the day after December 31, 7208 from the “creation of the world” should be considered January 1, 1700 from the “Nativity of Christ.” In order for the reform to be adopted without complications, the decree ended with a prudent clause: “And if anyone wants to write both those years, from the creation of the world and from the Nativity of Christ, freely in a row.”
Celebrating the first civil New Year in Moscow. The day after the announcement of Peter I’s decree on calendar reform on Red Square in Moscow, i.e. December 20, 7208, a new decree of the tsar was announced - “On the celebration of the New Year.” Considering that January 1, 1700 is not only the beginning of a new year, but also the beginning of a new century (Here a significant mistake was made in the decree: 1700 is last year XVII century, and not the first year of the XVIII century. New Age occurred on January 1, 1701. An error that is sometimes repeated today.), the decree ordered that this event be celebrated with especially solemnity. It gave detailed instructions on how to organize a holiday in Moscow. On New Year's Eve, Peter I himself lit the first rocket on Red Square, giving the signal for the opening of the holiday. The streets were illuminated. The ringing of bells and cannon fire began, and the sounds of trumpets and timpani were heard. The Tsar congratulated the population of the capital on the New Year, and the festivities continued all night. Multi-colored rockets took off from the courtyards into the dark winter sky, and “along the large streets, where there is space,” lights burned—bonfires and tar barrels attached to poles.
The houses of the residents of the wooden capital were decorated with needles “from trees and branches of pine, spruce and juniper.” For a whole week the houses were decorated, and as night fell the lights were lit. Shooting “from small cannons and from muskets or other small weapons,” as well as launching “missiles,” were entrusted to people “who do not count gold.” And “poor people” were asked to “put at least a tree or branch on each of their gates or over their temple.” Since that time, our country has established the custom of celebrating New Year's Day on January 1 every year.
After 1918, there were still calendar reforms in the USSR. In the period from 1929 to 1940, calendar reforms were carried out in our country three times, caused by production needs. Thus, on August 26, 1929, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR adopted a resolution “On the transition to continuous production in enterprises and institutions of the USSR,” which recognized the need to begin systematic and consecutive translation enterprises and institutions for continuous production. In the fall of 1929, a gradual transition to “continuity” began, which ended in the spring of 1930 after the publication of a resolution of a special government commission under the Council of Labor and Defense. This decree introduced a unified production timesheet and calendar. IN calendar year 360 days were provided, i.e. 72 five-day periods. It was decided to consider the remaining 5 days as holidays. Unlike the ancient Egyptian calendar, they were not located all together at the end of the year, but were timed to coincide with the Soviet memorable days and revolutionary holidays: January 22, May 1 and 2, and November 7 and 8.
The workers of each enterprise and institution were divided into 5 groups, and each group was given a day of rest on every five-day week for the whole year. This meant that after four working days there was a day of rest. After the introduction of the “uninterrupted” period, there was no longer a need for a seven-day week, since weekends could fall not only on different numbers month, but also on different days of the week.
However, this calendar did not last long. Already on November 21, 1931, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR adopted a resolution “On the intermittent production week in institutions,” which allowed the People's Commissariats and other institutions to switch to a six-day intermittent work week. production week. They were given permanent days off on the following numbers months: 6, 12, 18, 24 and 30. At the end of February, the day off fell on the last day of the month or was moved to March 1. In those months that contained 31 days, the last day of the month was considered the same month and was paid specially. The decree on the transition to an intermittent six-day week came into force on December 1, 1931.
Both the five-day and six-day periods completely disrupted the traditional seven-day week with a general day off on Sunday. The six-day week was in use for about nine years. Only June 26, 1940 Presidium Supreme Council The USSR issued a decree “On the transition to an eight-hour working day, to a seven-day working week and on the prohibition of the unauthorized departure of workers and employees from enterprises and institutions." In development of this decree, on June 27, 1940, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR adopted a resolution in which it established that "in addition to Sundays non-working days also are:
January 22, May 1 and 2, November 7 and 8, December 5. The same decree abolished the existing rural areas six special days of rest and non-working days March 12 (Day of the Overthrow of the Autocracy) and March 18 (Paris Commune Day).
On March 7, 1967, the Central Committee of the CPSU, the Council of Ministers of the USSR and the All-Russian Central Council of Trade Unions adopted a resolution “On the transfer of workers and employees of enterprises, institutions and organizations to a five-day work week with two days off,” but this reform did not in any way affect the structure of the modern calendar."
But the most interesting thing is that passions do not subside. The next revolution is happening in our new time. Sergey Baburin, Victor Alksnis, Irina Savelyeva and Alexander Fomenko contributed to State Duma a bill on the transition of Russia from January 1, 2008 to the Julian calendar. IN explanatory note the deputies noted that “there is no world calendar” and proposed establishing a transition period from December 31, 2007, when, for 13 days, chronology would be carried out simultaneously according to two calendars at once. Only four deputies took part in the voting. Three are against, one is for. There were no abstentions. The rest of the elected representatives ignored the vote.