Perpetual Calendar
Requires Java installed on your computer

Ever read a newpaper article and wanted to know the day it was published?  Ever tried to find the day of a birth date? Many times knowing the day helps in dating births, deaths, and other special events.  If you know the Month, date, and year then the applet below can help you determine the day. 

Select any month, and enter any four-digit year (0001-9999), or use the Previous Month and Next Month buttons. The first day on the left is SUNDAY.

The Perpetual Calendar requires a Java-Compatible browser

 

 

The Julian Calendar was named for Julius Ceasar (as is July), it was used for about 1500 years. It provided for a year that was 365.25 days long but it was actually 11 minutes and 14 seconds longer than the solar year. By 1580 the spring equinox fell on March 11 or 10 days earlier than it should. The Gregorian calendar was designed to correct the errors of the Julian Calendar. In 1582, on the advice of astronomers, Pope Gregory XIII corrected the difference between sun and calendar by ordering 10 days dropped from October. The day that would have been October 5, 1582 became October 15. To provide a regular correction, the pope decreed that February would have an extra day in years that could be divided by 400, such as 1600 and 2000 but not in other century years such as 1700, 1800 or 1900. The Gregorian calendar is so accurate that the difference between the calendar and solar years is now only 26.3 seconds. This difference will increase by 0.53 seconds every 100 years because the solar year is growing shorter. The Roman Catholic nations of Europe adopted the Gregorian calendar alomost immediately. Various German states kept the Julian calendar until 1700. Great Britain did not change to the Gregorian until 1752, Russia until 1918 and Turkey until 1928. The change still causes confusion. For example, George Washington was born on February 11, 1732 (os or old style) but we celebrate it on February 22 (new style).

Prior to 1582, every year divisible by 4 was a leap year. Since a year contains only 365.242199 days (slightly less than 365.25 days), an error of ten days accumulated over the centuries. To compensate for this error, Pope Gregory XIII (after whom the Gregorian Calendar is named) decreed that the ten days between October 5, 1582 and October 14, 1582 would be eliminated from the calendar. This made October 1582 the shortest month, with only 21 days. After 1582, years divisible by 100 are not leap years unless they are also divisible by 400. Thus, 1900 is not a leap year, but 2000 is.

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