The Gregorian, Islamic, Chinese, and
maybe Julian calendars are the most popular calendar systems in use today.
However, other, sometimes rather odd and unique, calendars have been used
throughout history. Here are 10 such examples.
10. The International Fixed
Calendar
The International Fixed Calendar has
13 months; each of which has 28 days. The months are named with the regular
January–December, with a new month called “Sol” added between June and July.
There would be a single, month-less day
at the end of every year called “year day.” Independence Day would no longer be
July 4, but Sol 16. Easter would always be on April 15, and every Christmas
would be a Wednesday. Every year would start on a Sunday, and for the
superstitious, every Friday would always be a 13th.
The calendar was made by Moses
Cotsworth, a railway adviser who didn’t like how the Gregorian calendar was
“scattered.” The calendar was popular among businessmen, particularly those into
haulage and transportation. While it was never officially adopted by any
country, it was used by George Eastman, who used it in his photography company -
Kodak, from 1928–89. George Eastman popularized the calendar, hoping other
businesses would also adopt it. He even opened an office inside his headquarters
for the International Fixed Calendar League, an organization which wanted their
calendar to replace the Gregorian calendar.
9. The Egyptian
Calendars
The first calendar used by early
Egyptians was a lunar calendar based on the rising and falling of the River
Nile. This calendar ended up inaccurate because it provided an error of up to 80
days, prompting the Egyptians to introduce a solar calendar based on the star
Sirius. The two calendars were used simultaneously, but they soon
drifted apart, forcing the Egyptians to add
an extra month to the lunar calendar once every three years.
Even with the extra month, the
calendars were still out of sync, so the Egyptians introduced a new calendar
called the “civil” or “civic” calendar, which was loosely based on the lunar
calendar but was neither a lunar nor solar calendar. It had 365 days divided
into 12 months. Each month had 30 days and an extra five days were added at the
end of the year. Just like its predecessors, the civil calendar was also
inaccurate. While the specific months of the lunar calendar fell in the same
season every year, months in the civil calendar fell on any season. The
Egyptians then introduced a new lunar calendar based on the civil calendar. The
new lunar calendar was used to determine the day of religious celebrations,
while the older lunar calendar was used for agricultural purposes.
8. The Mayan
Calendars
The Mayan calendar was actually made
up of three different calendars: the Long Count (astronomical calendar), the Tzolkin (divine
calendar), and the Haab (civil calendar). The Haab calendar had 365 days,
divided into 19 months - 18 20-day months and a five-day month. The Tzolkin, on
the other hand, had 20 “periods,” with 13 days each. The Tzolkin was used in
determining the days of Mayan ceremonies and religious activities. The Long
Count was used to determine longer time frequencies known as the “Universal
Cycle.” A universal cycle has 2.88 million days (about 7,885 years). Ancient
Maya believed that the universe is destroyed and then rebuilt every 2.88 million
days.
Dates in the Mayan calendar were
calculated with the Tzolkin and Haab calendars. Both calendars were used to
create a new calendar called “calendar round.” Interestingly, it was the Long
Count calendar that led to the rumour that the Maya had predicted that the world
would end on December 21, 2012, the day the last Great Cycle ended. The Maya
never said that Earth would cease to exist on that date. Instead, a Great Cycle
would end, and another would begin.
7. The Positivist
Calendar
Photo via Wikipedia
The Positivist calendar was intended
to replace the Catholic calendar. It was invented in 1849, by August Comte. All
its months had exactly 28 days, divided into four seven-day weeks. It had a
standalone month-less day dedicated to all dead people at the end of every year.
Every leap year would have an extra month-less day dedicated to women. Each day
was named after an historic person or organization, and all months and years
begin on Monday.
The first month of the year was named
after Moses, the third was named after Aristotle, the fourth after Archimedes,
the fifth after Caesar, the sixth after St. Paul, and the 10th after
Shakespeare. The 14th day of Moses was named after Buddha, the 21st day of
Aristotle after Socrates, and the seventh day of Gutenburg after Columbus. If
the calendar had been adopted, the Gregorian calendar’s 1789 would be year 1,
and 2000 would have been 212.
6. The Soviet Revolutionary
Calendar
Photo via Wikipedia
The Soviet “Revolutionary” calendar
was introduced in the Soviet Union in 1929. The calendar did not change the year
like several other calendars. Instead, it manipulated the weeks of the year,
reducing the number of days in a week from seven to five. The number of weeks in a month was also
increased from the usual four to six. At the end of every year were five or six
days that did not have a month. While the calendar lasted, the Soviet Union
experienced February 30. Each day on the
calendar was represented with either a colour or Roman numeral. Workers, both
government and non-government, were issued a number or colour. They were to
observe a day off on the day that fell on their number or colour.
The results of the new calendar were
disastrous. While it did increase productivity as intended (80 percent of the
country was working at any given time), it segregated families and friends. A
wife could have her off on a blue day, while the husband had his on a red and
the children on a green. Workers were generally demoralized, and machines could
not be routinely maintained since they were used almost daily. To counter this
new problem, the Soviets introduced a new calendar with six-day weeks. Everyone
worked for five days every week, and there was a general day off for everyone.
The calendar was intended to increase workers’ productivity, although it also
had some roots in exterminating religion. The calendar was finally abolished on
June 26, 1940.
5. The Chinese
Calendar
Photo credit:
_sarchi
The Chinese calendar is a lunisolar
calendar, meaning that it is calculated based on the position of the Sun and the
Moon. A regular year has 12 months and 353–355 days, while a leap year has a
whole extra month, which brings the year to 383–385 days. The leap month is
added once roughly every three years, and it shares the same name as the
previous month. Although the calendar is still in use in China, it is mostly
used to calculate the days of Chinese ceremonies and weddings, while the
Gregorian calendar is used for almost everything else.
Years are not counted in numbers like
in other calendars. Instead, they are named after one celestial term and one
terrestrial body over a 60-year cycle. The celestial
terms, 10 in number, have no equivalent word in English. The terrestrial bodies
are the 12 animals that comprise the Chinese zodiac signs. And just like almost
every other calendar out there, the Chinese calendar has its own errors. In the
year 2033 (Gregorian calendar), the leap month will be added after the seventh
month instead of the 11th, which is very unusual.
4. The Ethiopian Orthodox
Calendar
Ethiopia celebrated the new
millennium on September 12, 2007, seven and a half years behind the West. This
is because they use the Coptic Orthodox calendar, which is used by the Coptic
Orthodox Church and is similar to the Jewish calendar. The calendar has 13
months of 30 days each, and leap years have an extra month of five or six days.
The calendar was used by the West prior
to 1582, when they changed to the Gregorian calendar.
Ethiopia did not switch to the
Gregorian calendar because it was conservative and overprotective of its
religion. Besides, they were located far from other major countries of the world
and might have not been informed when the change of calendar took place. To
prevent confusion between the Orthodox and Gregorian calendars, all calendars in
Ethiopia list the date based on both the Orthodox and Gregorian calendars. The
major challenge Ethiopians face with using two calendars is that a leap year for
one calendar is not necessarily a leap year in
the other.
3. The French Revolutionary
Calendar
Photo via Wikipedia
The French Revolutionary calendar was
also called the French republican calendar. It was used in France from October
24, 1793, until January 1, 1806, when it was abolished. It was readopted around
1871, before being abolished yet again. The calendar was a failed attempt to
“de-Christianize” France. It was first introduced on October 24, 1793, a little
over a year after the French revolution. Because of this, there was no year 1.
Instead, the calendar began from year 2.
It had 12 months, each of which had
three decades (rather than weeks) of 10 days each. Five month-less days (or six
in the case of leap years) were added at the end of the year. Each day of the
year was named after seeds,
trees, flowers, fruits, tools, and animals. Of all the 10 days in the decade,
only the last day was regarded as the day for rest. The remaining nine days were
strictly for work.
Leap years were often added to make
the New Year begin on the autumnal equinox, but this simply complicated issues,
as the autumnal equinox was difficult to predict. The calendar soon got out of
sync with other calendars, and several adjustments were planned by year 20 to
correct the calendar. These adjustments never came, as the calendar was
abolished in year 14.
2. The Roman
Calendar
Photo credit:
Marie-Lan Nguyen
The Roman calendar is a perfect
example of what a calendar shouldn’t look like. Also called the “pre-Julian”
calendar, it was created by King Romulus when Rome was founded. It had 10
months, totalling 304 days, and an additional 61 days that were not assigned to
months or weeks. Because the months were not in sync with the seasons, King Numa
added two extra months, Ianuarius (January) and Februarius (February) to bring
the months to 12. An extra month could also be added at the behest of the
pontifex maximus, a Roman high priest.
Most pontifex maximi added
the extra month for their own political gains.
Some were even bribed to add or reduce the length of the year. Leap years were
also deliberately avoided because they were believed to bring bad luck. Julius
Caesar later introduced the Julian calendar after he became the pontifex
maximus. However, the new calendar could not be immediately adopted because
of the inaccuracies in the Roman calendar. So, 46 BC ended up with 15 months,
totalling 445 days. That year was named “the
last year of confusion,” and the Julian
calendar finally started in 45 BC.
1. The Aztec
Calendar
The Aztec calendar was made up of two
different calendars - the Xiuhpohualli and the Tonalpohualli. The Xiuhpohualli
had 365 days divided into 18 months of 20 days each. Five extra days, which were
considered unlucky, were added at the end of the year, and 12 days were added
once every 52 years. The Tonalpohualli, on the other hand, had 20 months divided
into 13 days, bringing its days to 260. Each of the 260 days was associated with
a number or sign and dedicated to a god.
The two calendars became equal once
every 52 years, during which the Aztecs believed the world would be destroyed.
To prevent the impending destruction, they performed a 12-day ritual called the
new fire festival to “bind up” the years. All fires burning in the city would be
extinguished on the first day of the festival, and they would remain like that
till the 12th day, when a human sacrifice would be offered and a new fire lit.
This sacrifice was to ensure that the Sun would keep rising for the next 52 years.
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