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[IMG]The Julian calendar was a reform of the Roman calendar which was introduced by Julius Caesar in 46 BC and came into force in 45 BC (709 ab urbe condita). It was chosen after consultation with the astronomer Sosigenes of Alexandria and was probably designed to approximate the tropical year, known at least since Hipparchus. It has a regular year of 365 days divided into 12 months, and a leap day is added to February every four years. Hence the Julian year is on average 365.25 days long. The Julian calendar remained in use into the 20th century in some countries as a national calendar, but it has generally been replaced by the modern Gregorian calendar. It is still used by the Berber people of North Africa, on Mount Athos and by many national Orthodox churches. Orthodox Churches no longer using the Julian calendar typically use the Revised Julian calendar rather than the Gregorian calendar. The notation "Old Style" (OS) is sometimes used to indicate a date in the Julian calendar, as opposed to "New Style" (NS), which either represents the Julian date with the start of the year as 1 January or a full mapping onto the Gregorian calendar.[/IMG]
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The original Roman calendar is believed to have been a lunar calendar, which may have been based on one of the Greek lunar calendars. As the time between new moons averages 29.5 days, its months would have been either hollow (29 days) or full (30 days). Full months were considered powerful and therefore auspicious; hollow months were unlucky. Roman traditions claimed that the calendar was invented by Romulus, the founder of Rome about 753 BC.
Unlike our dates, which are numbered sequentially from the beginning of the month, the Romans counted backwards from three fixed points - the Nones, the Ides, and the Kalends of the following month. This system originated in the practice of "calling" the new month when the crescent was first observed in the west after sunset. From the shape and orientation of the new moon the number of days remaining to the nones would be proclaimed. The earliest known version contained ten months, and started at the vernal equinox; however, the months by this time were no longer 'lunar':
* Martius (31 days)
* Aprilis (30 days)
* Maius (31 days)
* Iunius (30 days)
* Quintilis (31 days)
* Sextilis (30 days)
* September (30 days)
* October (31 days)
* November (30 days) and
* December (30 days)
The calendar year lasted 304 days and there were about 61 days of winter that did not fall within the calendar.
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all this posting and I still need 36 a day.
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March is the third month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven months with a length of 31 days.
March in the Southern Hemisphere is the seasonal equivalent of September in the Northern Hemisphere.
The name of March comes from ancient Rome, when March was the first month of the year and called Martius after Mars, the Roman god of war. In Rome, where the climate is Mediterranean, March is the first month of spring, a logical point for the beginning of the year as well as the start of the military campaign season. The numbered year began on March 1 in Russia until the end of the fifteenth century. Great Britain and her colonies continued to use March 25 until 1752, the same year they finally adopted the Gregorian calendar. Many other cultures and religions still celebrate the beginning of the New Year in March.
In Finnish, the month is called maaliskuu, which originates from maallinen kuu meaning earthy month. This is because in maaliskuu earth started to show from under the snow. Historical names for March include Saxon: Lenctmonat, named for the equinox and eventual lengthening of days and the eventual namesake of Lent. Saxons also called March Rhed-monat or Hreth-monath (for their goddess Rhedam/Hreth), and Angles called it Hyld-monath
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