In 46 BCE Julius Caesar established a new calendar, a solar calendar, that went into effect for what is now referred to as 45 BCE. In it he determined that the winter solstice would fall on December 25. He was so close to getting it right. They had figured out that the solar year was about 365.25 days long, when its actually 365.2422 days long, so they put in too many leap years by having it happen every four years. Since the implementation of the Gregorian calendar over the last few centuries this has been corrected and now the winter solstice falls on December 21 or 22. Of course the reason for Pope Gregory’s reforms were to have the Catholic feasts take place at the right time.

What I don’t get is why Caesar decided the solstice should be on December 25. Wouldn’t it make more sense for it to be December 31? After all, that’s the day the sun dies (at least for those of us in the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere) and it would be the logical end for a solar calendar. It also would have negated the need for the Gregorian calendar by having leap days added in only when it’s needed to keep the solstice on December 31.

My only gripe with the Gregorian calendar and it’s Julian predecessor is that they are completely arbitrary. January 1st is not tied to anything of real significance!

Now, if you want to talk about calendar reforms, check this one out. A team of researches at Johns Hopkins University want each day of the year to fall on the same day of the week. For example, December 25 would always fall on a Sunday and when there would be too much drift relative to the solstice they would add in an entire leap week. Thus the winter solstice could fall anywhere from December 17 and 25. This appeals to me too since it would be good for business.

For all of us on the horribly flawed (but still quite brilliant) Gregorian Calendar I wish you the best for the new year!

HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!