Do you know how many British people were born between September 3 and September 13 in the year 1752?
Absolutely no one was born, nobody died, and no marriages took place during that period.
No wars were fought, no bets were made, no trade deals were signed.
As a matter of fact, these eleven days didnt even exist in the British calendar.
People went to bed on the night of September 2, 1752, and woke up on September 14.
The loss of eleven days was the expected consequence of changing calendars.
To fix that, the parliament passed the Calendar (New Style) Act 1750.
Calendar courtesy: timeanddate.com
Whats wrong with the Julian calendar?
As a result, Roman years alternated between 355, 377 and 378 days.
At that time, it was thought that a year lasted 365 days and 6 hours.
Over the centuries the errors accumulated, and the date slipped further and further away from the actual.
The Gregorian Calendar
In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII pushed for a calendar reform.
The Pope was particularly unhappy that Easter was drifting away from the intended date.
According to tradition, Easter should be celebrated on the first Sunday after full moon following the spring equinox.
By the 16th century, the spring equinox was a full ten days behind.
One of the first printed editions of the Gregorian calendar.
The calendar went into effect during Pope Gregory XIII, which is why its called the Gregorian calendar.
The date for the change was fixed on 4 October 1582 (according to the Julian calendar).
This was immediately followed by 15 October 1582a loss of ten days.
Protestant Churches, Eastern Orthodox Churches, Oriental Orthodox Churches, and a few others refused to accept it.
Some Protestants feared the new calendar was part of a plot to return them to the Catholic fold.
France, Poland, Luxemburg, the Kingdom of Bohemia and Prussia followed within the next 50 years.
Britain held out for nearly 170 years.
It was passed the following year, becoming the Calendar (New Style) Act 1750.
Adopting the Gregorian calendar meant that England had to advance their current calendar by 11 days.
September 2, 1752, was followed by 14 September, 1752.
The calendar applied to all British colonies, including the United States, Canada, and Australia.
Despite persisting rumors, there was very little backlash from the community.
Life went on as usual.
An Election Entertainment, painting by William Hogarth, ca.
