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Archiver > MAESSEX > 2003-07 > 1057065142


From: "John Slaughter" <>
Subject: Re: [MAESSEX] Things that make you go hummm...
Date: Tue, 01 Jul 2003 06:12:22 -0700


> First off, please let me correct an error in my earlier posting. I had
>meant to select a leap year which, of course, 1700 was _not_.

Actually, 1700 WAS what we now would call a leap year. So were 100, 200,
300, 500, 600, 700, 900, 1000, 1100, 1300, 1400, and 1500. If you count
those, including 1700, there are 13 years that shouldn't have been leap
years. That's the reason that we dropped 11 days in 1752. September 2nd
through the 13th simply don't exist in our calendar.
Yes, there is a 2 day discrepancy. This is because the change was done in
order to make the Vernal Equinox fall on March 21st. This was decreed by the
Council of Nicaea in 325. As it apparently did fall on that date in 325,
only the leap years from 500 to 1700 listed above would have added extra
days. That leaves an extra day that I can't account for.
This covers somewhat the change over that affects all of us because we all
have ancestors that lived through the change. I have often wondered about a
gravestone that gives a person's age in years, months and days that spanned
this change. Did the person who calculated the age take into account the 11
days. If not, then the deceased's age would be overstated by 11 days. If so,
when we calculate a birth date from the given age and date of death, we
would be off by 11 days.
For further information on this, please take some time to read some of the
following:
The Perpetual Calendar - http://www.norbyhus.dk/calendar.html
The Calendar FAQ - http://www.tondering.dk/claus/calendar.html
Old Style and New Style dates - http://www.genfair.com/dates.htm
Genealogy in France - http://www.francogene.com/search-fr/calrep.php

There is a wonderful interactive calendar at http://calendarhome.com/tyc/.
It has a link to a converter that will change Gregorian to Julian, Mayan,
Persian, Indian Civil, Hebrew, Bahai, Islamic and French Republican
calendars.
The change from Julian Calendars to Gregorian Calendars has a fairly
significant effect on us as genealogists. I think that having some
understanding of the reasons and history, which is what genealogy is all
about, can only make us better genealogists.

John Slaughter
In loving memory of our son, Brennan, 11/10/88-5/31/01
http://john-slaughter.rootsweb.com/Brennan.html
History of Ipswich, Essex and Hamilton
http://john-slaughter.rootsweb.com/IpswichHistory
Pictorial tour of Ipswich
http://john-slaughter.rootsweb.com/WalkingTour
Bradford Town Records
http://john-slaughter.rootsweb.com/Bradford
Massachusetts VR lookup requests
http://john-slaughter.rootsweb.com/Mass_VRs
Early Massachusetts Vital Records to 1849
http://john-slaughter.rootsweb.com/VitalRecords
Groveland Congregational Church
http://john-slaughter.rootsweb.com/Groveland

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