The calendar would be more rational if Augustus Caesar hadn’t had such a high opinion of himself.

Five months of 31 days, evenly spaced through the calendar. All the rest with 30 days, including February, which would have 31 days on leap years.

Oh, well. It isn’t gonna happen.

Or thirteen months of twenty-eight days each and no leap year.

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:
Or thirteen months of twenty-eight days each and no leap year.

That would still require leap years every 4 years. Plus an additional uncalendared day each year.

13*28=364, but there's 365 days in a year, and 366 in leap years.

The theory behind this oft-mentioned hypothetical 13 month calendar is that New Years Day would be a standalone each year, not assigned to a month. And in leap years, there would be an additional unassigned Leap Year Day at the start of the year.

Heck, we can't even decide if we should get rid of or keep daylight savings time...

quote:

Originally posted by Pipe Smoker:
The calendar would be more rational if Augustus Caesar hadn’t had such a high opinion of himself.

Five months of 31 days, evenly spaced through the calendar. All the rest with 30 days, including February, which would have 31 days on leap years.

Oh, well. It isn’t gonna happen.

This proposal is better because…?

I like Leap Year Day as it is and would change nothing. I have my (Good) reasons, exactly 20 years ago, I had my first meeting with a nice young Lass that would become my Wife and the Mother of my Children. I am off to the same diner for brunch again in 20 minutes with the same wonderful person.

quote:

Originally posted by divil:
I like Leap Year Day as it is and would change nothing. I have my (Good) reasons, exactly 20 years ago, I had my first meeting with a nice young Lass that would become my Wife and the Mother of my Children. I am off to the same diner for brunch again in 20 minutes with the same wonderful person.

Awww . . .!! Both an easy way to remember AND not have to yearly celebrate your dateaversary! But that Leap Year I bet must be a BIG outlay.

quote:

Originally posted by TMats:
<snip>
This proposal is better because…?

More regular. ALL months would have either 30 or 31 days.

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:
Or thirteen months of twenty-eight days each and no leap year.

Ummmm, that's gonna be a problem over a long time horizon. Happy 4th of July; Forecast is for high of 30 and 4 inches of snow.

I like leap year since I can razz salaried folks that we're getting a free day of work out of them today!

Meh. If you were an Orthodox Jew, your life would be guided by the Hebrew calendar, a lunisolar calendar, using lunar months (based on the appearance of a new moon) and solar years (based on our orbit around the sun).

Confused yet? Wait, there's more.

In order to reconcile the difference between twelve lunar months and one solar year, the Hebrew calendar uses 19-year cycles, in which seven of those nineteen years are leap years. Do we add an extra day for leap year? Nope, leap days are for amateurs! Real calendars (like the Hebrew calendar), use leap months! Yup, in seven years of each nineteen year cycle, specifically years 3,6,8,11,14,17, and 19, a full leap month is added to the calendar, so twelve of the years in the nineteen year cycle have twelve months, and seven of the years have thirteen months.

Since the lunar cycle is very close to 29.5 days, all months have either 29 or 30 days.

Maimonides, a twelfth century rabbi, scholar, and philosopher who lived in Spain, is known for his commentary. He said of the calendar

quote:

By how much does the solar year exceed the lunar year? By approximately 11 days. Therefore, whenever this excess accumulates to about 30 days, or a little more or less, one month is added and the particular year is made to consist of 13 months, and this is the so-called embolismic (intercalated) year. For the year could not consist of twelve months plus so-and-so many days, since it is said: "throughout the months of the year", which implies that we should count the year by months and not by days.

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
Heck, we can't even decide if we should get rid of or keep daylight savings time...

That's funny and a great way to bring us back to reality.

I've been studying the Hebrew calendar in preparation for easter. They have an intricate system of marrying the lunar cycle and the solar cycle. They put in a leap month seven times within a 19-year cycle and have formulas in place to adjust postponing its addition by one or two days as necessary.

I’d just as soon forget it now. My dad has been gone 12 years today.

^^^^^ two above.
I guess Augustus Caesar’s tweak wasn’t that bad, relatively speaking.

quote:

Originally posted by Pipe Smoker:
^^^^^ two above.
I guess Augustus Caesar’s tweak wasn’t that bad, relatively speaking.

I was going to say "but each month then would start with the new moon."

But then again, I can see quarterly reports to be so confusing and then some business are on the 4-4-5 quarter. I worked for a company that switched to that for a while.

Do people born on the leap day only get to celebrate their birthday every four years?

Don't forget that years that end in 00 have their usual leap day dropped to further adjust to the discrepancy between the solar and lunar cycles.

Note also that orbits decay and our current conventions will not be valid for the long term.

quote:

Originally posted by architect:
Don't forget that years that end in 00 have their usual leap day dropped to further adjust to the discrepancy between the solar and lunar cycles.
...

Damn, you learn something new every day. Somehow I never knew that, and apparently never noticed.

It is a good day to buy a P229.

There is still time...

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:

Do people born on the leap day only get to celebrate their birthday every four years?

I remember going to a birthday party of a friend in 1980. He was born in 1928, but his 13th birthday was in 1980. We all got him gifts appropriate for a 13 year old boy.

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
Do people born on the leap day only get to celebrate their birthday every four years?

I was due to be born on leap day.

The first thing I was late for. Certainly not the last.

I think I would be 19 today.