I Love Calendars! The History of Calendars plus Great New Calendars, Planners and More

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A Chicken in Every Pot and a Calendar on Every Wall!

Wall calendars, desk calendars, pocket calendars, perpetual calendars, and even electronic calendars.  Who would have thought that something so much the same on the inside could have so much variety on the outside! 

Not only do they help remind us where we need to be and when we need to be there, calendars educate, enlighten, and entertain us, all the while adding a touch of personality to our decor.  But did you know that our modern calendar has a very interesting history?

If you like calendars as much as I do, or if you want to learn a little something you might not have known about calendars, you might enjoy this lens.  Thanks for visiting!

P.S.  I hope you like the Chicken-ology calendar!

Let's Start with some Calendar Mood Music 

He loves, he loves, he loves his calendar girl!

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Calendar Facts - The History of Our Calendar 

(Or, Why We Owe Pope Gregory XIII a Debt of Gratitude)

The calendar commonly used throughout the world today is the Gregorian calendar, also called the Christian calendar. The Gregorian calendar was adopted by Pope Gregory XIII, so decreed on February 24, 1582, in order to correct for errors in the previously used calendar, the Julian calendar. One of the errors in the Julian calendar was insertion of a leap year day every third year for certain period of time, overall adding one extra day every 128 years.

The length of the year of the Gregorian calendar is 365.2425 days, or 365 days, 5 hours, 49 minutes. To accommodate for the fractional days, we now have "leap year" every four years, actually 97 leap years every 400 years (365 97/400 days per year = 365.2425 universal days). We add the extra day every fourth February, to make 29 days instead of 28.

The Julian calendar was adopted by Julius Caesar in 45 B.C., replacing the Roman calendar. Caesar adopted his calendar to put an end to the common practice of priests inserting days and even months into the calendar in order to keep their favorite politicians in office. Some Orthodox churches actually still use the Julian calendar today.

 

The Julian calendar did not number the days of the months sequentially starting with one, rather they had three fixed points for each month. Kalendae was the first day of every month. Idus was near the middle of the month, on the 13th day of January, February, April, June, August, September, November, and December and on the 15th day of March, May, July, and October. Nonae was the 9th day before Idus. All other days were referenced by these three dates. Thus, what we would call January 11th would have been "the second day before Idus," and the days between Idus until the following month were referred to as "the nth day before Kalendae" of the next month.

Julius Caesar decreed that in leap years the sixth day before Kalendae of March would be doubled, so instead of adding a February 29th, the Romans just had the same day twice every leap year, which would have been February 24th. This is why February 24th, not the 29th, is actually considered "leap day" even in modern times.

I don't know about you, but I'm kind of glad Pope Gregory came along when he did! There's much, much more history of the calendar and its calculations and iterations. If you enjoy facts such as these and want to learn more, visit the Calendars Through the Ages exhibit at webexhibits.org.

 

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Some of My Favorite Calendars 

I'm guessing some of my favorites may be some of your favorites, too.

Mom's Family Calendar 2010

I used a Sandra Boynton "Mom's Family" planning calendar when our kids were still at home. No wonder it's a best-seller. It's great!

A Year of Duct Tape Page-A-Day Calendar 2010

Everyone knows you can do just about anything with duct tape, but not everyone knows 365 days' worth of things to do with duct tape. This calendar is a great gift for dad, or for anyone.

American Cat 2010 Wall Calendar

Cat calendars are irresistible and this one is no exception. I look forward to the "Ahhhh, isn't that cute?" at the beginning of every month.

Bible Verses Page-A-Day Calendar 2010

What a great calendar to keep by the kitchen sink. It makes a good reminder that having dishes to wash every day actually is a blessing!

Personalized Calendars 

Use your own photos to make it a year to remember!

It's never too late to order a calendar! Choose a personalized photo calendar and start your calendar with any month, or choose a desk calendar and add your own photos. How about a mouse pad calendar? Take a look at these great, creative solutions to your "I need a calendar in here" problem.

Personalized 12 Photo Pet Calendar

Personalized 12 Photo Pet Calendar

A Personal Creations Exclusive! Choose your favori more...0 points

Personalized Custom Photo Calendar Kit

Personalized Custom Photo Calendar Kit

Enjoy a year of precious memories! Customize your more...0 points

Personalized Photo and Calendar Mouse Pad with Famous Quotes

Personalized Photo and Calendar Mouse Pad with Famous Quotes

A must-have staple for every computer user at home more...0 points

Calendars That Make Us Laugh 

A laugh a day keeps the doctor away. You need a humor calendar - it's good for your health.

POLL: How Many Calendars do You Have? 

Do you have a calendar hanging on the wall in every room, one in your purse or pocket, two on the computer, another in the car? More than that? How many calendars do you have?

Loading poll. Please Wait...

Advent Calendars for Your Family 

Wow, what a variety! Start your own tradition.

Electronic & Specialty Calendars & Organizers 

When you need something fancy or just a fun, new-fangled kind of calendar!

Organize your life with these great electronic calendar selections.

Sharp Wizard OZ-590A Electronic Organizer

This inexpensive organizer from Sharp features a full-size PDA design, with a silver metallic finish and protective flip cover. Your colleagues will think you paid hundreds for it! And it's extremely functional with 9 built-in PIM functions: telephone/address book, calendar, scheduler, date reminder, memo, to do, expense, world clock, calculator, & conversions! Brick Attack & Slots games to keep you entertained on long trips or during boring meetings Includes - CD-ROM software & PC-link cable

Palm TX Handheld

Created for today's fast-paced mobile landscape, the sleekly lightweight Palm TX handheld keeps you connected to your most important data--from email to files stored on your office PC--while you're away from your desktop with built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless connectivity. It also features a high-resolution 320 x 480-pixel screen (with portrait and landscape orientation modes), a fast Intel 312 MHz ARM-based processor, expansion slot for Secure Digital (SD), MultiMedia (MMC), and Secure Digital I/O (SDIO) cards . . .

Giant Size Calendar and Wall Clock

Wouldn't this be great for a senior citizen? A wall clock with an easy to see automatic calendar which shows the month, date and day. The quartz clock requires one AA battery and the calendar uses 2 C batteries, not included. Overall measurement is 9.62 inches x 19.75 x 4.25. The date display is 2 1/4 inches high, the PM display that tells whether it is morning or night (which is shown under the day of the week) is 1/2 high, the month and day measure just under 1 inch and the numbers on the clock measure 3/4 inch.

Axion AXN-9905 9-Inch LCD Digital Picture Frame

The full-featured AXN-9905 9-inch digital picture frame functions as a calendar, clock, and alarm, and also supports MP3 music playback. It comes with a card-style remote control, built-in memory that can store up to 15 pictures (depending on size), USB input jack, and an AC/DC power adapter. The super-slim remote controls viewing and music options to enhance your experience without leaving the sofa. Use the USB jack to download media directly from a USB flash drive. SD, xD, MMC and Sony Memory Stick flash media compatibility make it easy to show off pictures without a PC. MP3 playback, built-in speakers, and the calendar and alarm functions round out a cool, convenient multimedia experience.

Still More Calendars! 

There are so many great ones! Are we missing your favorite 2008 calendar? Add it here!

Hebrew Illuminations 2008 Calendar: The Illuminated Letter Series, Vol. 2 - A 16-Month Calendar (5767/5768)

Hebrew Illuminations 2008 Calendar: The Illuminated Letter Series, Vol. 2 - A 16-Month Calendar (5767/5768)

Great Rabbis and scholars have dedicated their liv more...0 points

Free Printable Calendars 

Want to do your own thing? Choose one of these sites to print a calendar - free!

Free Printable Calendars
Print simple monthly or yearly calendars. The great thing about this site is that you can choose a "culture" and print the calendar in a different language. Studying Spanish? Print a Spanish-language calendar. Studying German? Well, you get the idea.
Make a Calendar - Free Printable Calendars
From about.com Family Crafts. Make your own calendars. Find free, printable calendar templates and much more.
Print your own free calendar
Free printable calendars: Generate daily calendar, weekly calendar, monthly calendars and yearly calendars.
Free Printable Daily Calendar & Free Printable Logs
Free Printable Daily Calendar: Free printable logs - click now for your free printable daily calendar.

Wow! You Made it to the End! 

If you stuck with us this far, you must love calendars, too, or maybe you just liked the lens!

Now, could you share the love? Jump back up to the top and leave us some stars, leave us a comment in the feedback section below, and consider adding us to your lensroll. When you do, let us know and we'll do the same here for you.

Thanks so much, and have a great day, no matter what day of the year it is!

Do You Love Calendars? 

We'd love to hear about your favorite calendar, or just stop and say hello!

JaguarJulie wrote...

Yep -- I too love calendars and you've given us all the examples of cool ones that we could possibly want. Happy Thanksgiving my dear! ;)

ReplyPosted November 25, 2008

dustytoes wrote...

I am lensrolling this great calendar lens to the one I just started. You've put in a lot of work and added great stuff that I might just never get around to! Nice job...

ReplyPosted October 26, 2008

Becca_Sanz wrote...

You have such wonderful ideas. I hope you will support movement to promote Healthy Food on college campuses.

ReplyPosted February 15, 2008

KimGiancaterino wrote...

This is such a fun lens. I had never seen calendar keepers before, but what a great way to frame a calendar. Mine are usually of the cute kitty variety. Well done!

ReplyPosted February 11, 2008

Clairwil wrote...

Well done on winning and thanks for the mention above.

ReplyPosted January 29, 2008

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I am honored to be honored! 

Lens of the week, week of January 21, 2008

Thanks to lensmaster Clairwil for choosing this lens as a nominee for Lens of the Week on the lens below. Thanks to my friends and fans for voting - 'cause I won! I'm humbled and honored.

by Susan52

Susan52 enjoys writing, blogging, and making lenses on Squidoo and is proud to be a member of the Giant Squid 100 Club! The true loves of her life are... (more)

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