Gregorian Calendar

  • The Gregorian Calendar is named after Pope Gregory XIII who introduced it in 1582 CE.
  • It replaced the Julian Calendar introduced by Julius Caesar in 45 BCE.

Why the Gregorian Calendar was introduced

  • The Julian Calendar added an extra day every four years, but this was too frequent.
  • It did not match the time taken for the Earth to circle the Sun known as the Tropical Year.

The Difference between the Julian Calendar and the Gregorian Calendar

  • The Julian Calendar and the Gregorian Calendar have exactly the same number of months and the same number of days in each month.
  • In the Julian Calendar, one year consists of 365.25 days, with an extra day inserted every four years, called a Leap Year.
  • In the Gregorian Calendar, one year consists of 365.2425 days with an extra day inserted every four years, called a Leap Year.
  • But in the Gregorian Calendar, only years divisible by four can be Leap Years, and only century years divisible by 400 can be Leap Years.
  • Consequently, the Julian Calendar is currently 13 days behind the Gregorian Calendar until 2100, when it will be 14 days behind.
  • To convert from the Julian Calendar to the Gregorian Calendar, add 13 days.
  • To convert from the Gregorian Calendar to the Julian Calendar, subtract 13 days.

The Julian Calendar compared to the Solar or Tropical Year

  • In the Julian Calendar, a year consists of 365.25 days, with an extra day inserted every four years, called a Leap Year. This is then repeated indefinitely. This makes it 10.8 minutes longer than the Gregorian Calendar.
  • The Julian Calendar gains about 3 days every 400 years with respect to the Solar Tropical Year of 365.24217 days.
  • This makes the Julian Calendar currently 13 days behind the Gregorian Calendar.
  •  The Gregorian Calendar still gains 1 day, but only every 3,030 years.
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