Johannes Hubert wrote in message <36e3a732.0@news.povray.org>...
>Stephen Brooker wrote in message <36e36973.0@news.povray.org>...
>>Didn't the ?Roman's? add in days to the calendar along the way when it
>>started to get abit out of whack
>
>Yep, Julius Caesar (-> Julian Calendar)
>

Accumulating inaccuracies of the Julian calendar meant that by 1582 the
vernal equinox was actually occuring on March 11.

>(and didn't someone add in a whole month
>>somewhere along the line?)
>
>Yep, Pope Gregor (-> Gergorian Calendar)
>


Yes, on October 4, 1582, Pope Gregory XIII ordained that the next day would
be October 15th. American colonists steadfastly refused to go along, simply
because the reform had come from Rome. Well, scholars and politicians got
together in 1752 and considered it time for the colonies to catch up. So,
when George Washington was just a wee lad, his birthday moved from February
11, 1731 (Old Calendar) to February 22, 1732 (New Calendar).

>>So isn't the whole idea of counting out exactly
>>2000 years somewhat flawed to start with?
>
>Nope, because:
>
>The year is defined as the time the earth needs to complete one circle
>around the sun (nowadays it is a bit more complicated though ;-)
>It is *not* defined as being 365 days long (or whatever number).
>The additional days were added for exactly this reason, because the time
>around the sun is not 365 days but 365-point-something (go look it up
>yourself ;-)
>

I think it is cyclical, and changes over time, so that the period of measure
would determine the result? I know that the orbital path changes in
dimension as a function of time, due to gyroscopic precession. Supposedly,
every 11,500 years the earth will experience severe weather imbalances and
mass extinctions. PANIC! :)

Please keep that out of the media (heh).

Well, these two points of change (Julian and Gregorian) do not begin to
describe the numerous corrections of the calendar overall. Regardless how
you look a it, the date of 'the birth' is best guess only. Even Eastern
Orthodox today still disagree with Rome, and have held onto the Julian
calendar. So, not even all Christians agree upon the date.

Unfortunately, the same can be said for Passover, which was purposely
'redefined' by Rome to fall always on a Sunday. Traditionally, the Jewish
method was to follow the lunar calendar, which gave no such assurance. The
passover was generally determined by calculations of the Jewish high council
known as "Sanhedrin."

And which day is it, precisely, that is the seventh day? :)

I say we party both years of the 'New Miliienium.'

The purpose of this post is intended as motivation/inspiration to the
calendar/clock themes so prevalent in 'images.binaries' these days. If
someone finds a way to tie all of these details into a single scene, I would
like to see it. ;)

GrimDude
vos### [at] arkansasnet

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