You are at the section Calendar History
Date Confusion
- William III of England arrived at Brixham in England on 5 November 1688 (Julian calendar), after setting sail from the Netherlands on 11 November 1688 (Gregorian calendar).
- Shakespeare (d. Apr 23, 1616 Julian as Julian-3-25- used in Britian) and Cervantes (d. Apr 23, 1616 Gregorian used in Spain) seemingly died on exactly the same date (23 April 1616), but Cervantes predeceased Shakespeare by ten days in real time (as Spain used the Gregorian calendar, but Britain used the Julian calendar). Apr 23, 1616 Gregorian translates to Apr 13, 1616 Julian.
- When Julius Caesar added days to some of the months, he added them to the end of the month, so as not to disturb the dates of festivals in those months. This increased the count of all days after the Ides in those months, and had some odd effects. For example, the emperor Augustus was born in 63 B.C. on the 23rd day of September. In the pre-Julian calendar, this is seven days before the Kalends of October (or, in Roman style, counting inclusively, a.d. VIII Kal. Oct.), but in the Julian calendar, it is eight days (a.d. IX Kal. Oct.). Because of this ambiguity, his birthday was sometimes celebrated on both dates.
- The Battle of Agincourt is universally considered to have been fought on 25 October 1415 (Julian Date) which is Saint Crispin's Day.
International Dateline Shifting
- Some countries and territories repeated a weekday when they decided to associate their time zones with those across the International Date Line to the east, and the IDL moved west of their countries.
- In Alaska's case, their IDL shifting to the West caused them to repeat a day of the week, but since the territory was changing hands from Russia to the United States, it changed calendars; the change took place after the United States purchased Alaska from Russia. Friday, October 6, 1867 (Julian-1 date) was followed by Friday, October 18 (Gregorian). Instead of 12 days, only 11 were skipped, and the day of the week, Friday was repeated on successive days, because at the same time the International Date Line was moved, from following Alaska's eastern border with Canada to following its new western border, now with Russia.
- The Samoan Islands, now divided as Samoa and American Samoa, were on the West side of the IDL until 1892 when the King of Samoa replaced the Asian date with the American date. The change was made by repeating July 4, 1892, once on the West side of the IDL, and again when the IDL shifted west of Samoa. The IDL shifted Eastward to passing between Samoa and American Samoa in 2011.
- Some countries and territories lost a day when they decided to associate their time zones with those across the International Date Line to the west, and the IDL moved east of their countries.
- Form 1521 until 1844, the Phillipines were one day behind its Asian neighbors when it was once a territory of Spain, resulting of the IDL having a large western bulge. 23 years after Mexico gained its independence from Spain in 1821, in 1844, the Phillipines, along with Guam, Mariana Islands, and Caroline Islands, moved to the West side of the IDL by jumping from Monday, December 30, 1844 to Wednesday, January 1, 1845 as they all switched to the Asian date.
- In Samoa and Tokelau, as the clock struck midnight in their time zone (or 10:00 GMT), as December the 29th, 2011 ended, December the 31st, 2011 began, skipping December 30. 119 years before that, Samoa and American Samoa both moved in the opposite direction, repeating a day when the IDL moved to west of it. American Samoa remains east of the IDL.
- In 1994, Kiribati, comprised of several islands, decided to move the International Date Line, which bisected the country, causing confusion, to East of the cluster, effective January 1, 1995.
- Kwajalein, like the rest of the Marshall Islands, passed from Spanish, then to German, then to Japanese control during the 19th and 20th centuries. Kwajalein was West of the IDL during that time. After World War II, in circa 1945, when the U.S. established a military installation there, Kwajalein, but not the rest of the Marshall Islands, moved to the East side of the IDL, repeating a day while shifting to using the Hawaiian date. On the day after Friday, August 20, 1993, Kwajalein returned to West of the IDL by skipping Saturday, August 20, 1993, and going directly to Sunday, August 21, 1993.
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