jbernier

I am not entirely sure who the 'they' mentioned the thread title would be. Perhaps starsage could clarify.

jester2459

I believe that would be Al Jagger, and anyone he could claim to represent.

Eldarion Lathria

Twas Julius Caesar who moved the new year to January, and he was no more a Christian than I am. The Roman calendar had gotten seriously out of synch with reality. Julius the punk extended a year pro haec vice to 442 days (Oddly enough he was consul that year) to get it back into agreement with reality. After he was impeached, in the good old Roman fashion, the sycophantic Senate renamed Quintilius after him when they declared him a god. When Augustus shuffled off his mortal coil, and the Senate grovelled before his memory, they renamed Sextilius, Augustus, and declared the cold little scoundrel a god.

Our current calendar is called the Gregorian, after a Pope named Gregory in the 16th century. Many Protestant nations didn't accept it until the 18th century. Russia didn't until 1917, which is why the October Revolution took place in November.

Eldarion Lathria

WCH

Wouldn't it make the most sense to celebrate the new year on the Winter Solstice, and have the 2 Solstices and the Equinoxes as the year's main holidays?

Tom Sawyer

No. Then there wouldn't be as convenient an excuse to take the whole week off between Xmas and New Year's.

Agemegos

Christian Calendar?

The calendar that we have now is the Gregorian calendar, which was produced by changing the system of leap years in the Julian calendar. The New Year was not adjusted when this occurred. The Julian calendar, which established our New Year, was devised by pagan Romans before Christ.

It is technically the Roman Civil year that begins at 1 January. The [Christian] liturgical year begins at teh sixth sunday before Christmas. For dating purposes (eg. on letters, accounts, in chronicles, in official records) various Christians in ancient and mediaeval times considered a new year to start at Lady Day (25 March), Easter, or Christmas. In mediaeval England the year began for the purpose of paying rents and taxes, for holding village offices, etc, on Michaelmass (29 September).

Agemegos

1. The Southern hemisphere has Spring when the Northern hemisphere has autumn. Are you going to have different years in different hemispheres?

2. Spring (the time when things start coming alive again) occurs at different times of year in different climate zones. Are you planning to have a different New Year at different latitudes? Won't that be confusing?

3. Americans seem to consider Spring to start at a time fixed by astronomy: the Northern Vernal Solstice. The British seem to consider it to start at an arbitrary date about three weeks earlier (1 March). 1 March has moved since the time Julius set for it (owing to the discrepancy between the length of the Julian and solar years, operating over the time betweenthe Julian and Gregorian reforms): The 'proper' beginning of Spring is 11 days earlier yet: one month before the solstice. Which 'spring' are you going to accept?

show_no_mercy

I think the Jewish new year is somewhere around October.

WCH

@Tom
Sure we would -- we'd take a week at each solstice/equinox.

flintknapper

Astronomical spring occurs around March 21. Meteorological spring begins on March 1.