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Did you ever wonder why December has 31 days? (1997)

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Re: Did you ever wonder why December has 31 days? (1997)

#61

Post by protonfish »

Anon84 wrote: post #41
jader201 wrote: post #29

To me, the most mathematically logical way to split up the calendar would have just been something like: 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 31 30 31 30 31 30 30 31 30 31 30 30 -- common year 31 30 31 30 31 30 30 31 30 31 30 31 -- leap year - All months 30 or 31. - Leap month alternates between 30 and 31. - Never have more than two consecutive months with the same day. - Only time two consecutive months have the same…

Even easier. 13 months of 28 days with one or two "leap day" per year make up 365-366.

That is a bad idea because number 13 is unlucky. Still, we could fix that by skipping the 13th month and saying the last month is 14.

Re: Did you ever wonder why December has 31 days? (1997)

#63

Post by GeneralMayhem »

peapicker wrote: post #34

I vote for 30 days for all months, followed by a 5 or 6 day festival (depending) at the end of the year. ;)

Not sure if you know this, but this is exactly how the Republican Calendar worked during the French Revolution. The bonus days were known as the sans-culottides (meaning days of the "sans-culottes," the self-chosen name for the Revolutionaries reinforcing the difference between them and the nobility) and celbrated Republican values like Labor and Virtue.

Re: Did you ever wonder why December has 31 days? (1997)

#64

Post by [deleted] »

sltkr wrote: post #5

This is a cute story, but it lacks all sources, and it contradicts Wikipedia [1] [2]: > Commonly repeated lore has it that August has 31 days because Augustus wanted his month to match the length of Julius Caesar's July, but this is an invention of the 13th century scholar Johannes de Sacrobosco. Sextilis in fact had 31 days before it was renamed, and it was not chosen for its length (see Julian calendar). According…

[deleted]

Re: Did you ever wonder why December has 31 days? (1997)

#65

Post by dllthomas »

sixothree wrote: post #59
dllthomas wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"if you are going to take days off, it makes sense to take them off the last month of the year." It's sort of understandable to take them off the last month of the year, but I think it makes the most sense to take them off the longer months first.

Backwards compatibility.

I don't follow. If you're already resizing months, what backwards compatibility is preserved by moving days from the last month rather than elsewhere?

Re: Did you ever wonder why December has 31 days? (1997)

#66

Post by sltkr »

saraid216 wrote: post #45
sltkr wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, but information on Wikipedia tends to be accurate and based on reliable sources -- when a person contradicts Wikipedia and fails to provide any sources of their own, they are usually wrong. Not necessarily, of course, but often enough to say the burden of proof lies with the person making the unsubstantiated claim.

Uh. There was a source provided: 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica. I wouldn't call that more reliable, but it's still as valid a source as Wikipedia.

You're right -- my mistake. I missed that somehow.

Re: Did you ever wonder why December has 31 days? (1997)

#67

Post by Thiz »

gabriel34 wrote: post #46
Thiz wrote: post #39

I like the universal calendar with 13 months, all with 28 days in four weeks. One extra day at the end of the year. Another extra day for leap year.

How about no months, 52 weeks per year with a 53rd 5-day week on leap years which would also correct leap seconds and such. I have always organized myself weekly, so does everyone around me. I think it's much more natural than months, specially because you have week-ends which mark the end of each week, but not a month-end, you just drift from one month to the other, nothing happened (except bills and paychecks and w…

Then why not extend the week to a ten day period?

The decimal system seems to work better.

Re: Did you ever wonder why December has 31 days? (1997)

#68

Post by sirn »

gabriel34 wrote: post #47
sirn wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting, I never thought of this problem before. In Thai, all month names are suffix with a word indicating number of days in a month. For example, "-khom" in "Mokkarakhom" (January) indicates 31 days, where "-yon" (e.g. Mesayon, "April") indicates 30 days. Benefit of being late-adopter allow us to name a month in a convenient way, I guess.

Interesting. What about February and leap years? Does khom and yon have meanings? The rest of the month's name is based on what?

February is using a special suffix, "-phan".

Both "-khom" and "-yon" means "come" or "arrival". Since our month names are basically a Zodiac in Hindu astrology, "Mokkarakhom" could be translated to "the arrival of Capricorn" (Mokkara/Makara) or April "Mesayon" is "the arrival of Aries" (Mesa).

Re: Did you ever wonder why December has 31 days? (1997)

#69

Post by gabriel34 »

Thiz wrote: post #67
gabriel34 wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How about no months, 52 weeks per year with a 53rd 5-day week on leap years which would also correct leap seconds and such. I have always organized myself weekly, so does everyone around me. I think it's much more natural than months, specially because you have week-ends which mark the end of each week, but not a month-end, you just drift from one month to the other, nothing happened (except bills and paychecks and w…

Then why not extend the week to a ten day period? The decimal system seems to work better.

Because then we would have to alter the moon's orbit :D

Interestingly, contrary to the seasons, the moon's phases bears no effect on our lives since the artificial illumination of the cities. The seven-day week could be a ten day week; on the other hand I would be weary of ten-day week because of possible connections with my (and humans in general) metabolism and internal clock. Perhaps five days worked per two days rested is our optimal. There is no reason why ten would be the magical number, but seven seems to be working; further studies are necessary.

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