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A toddler playing in the fountain at a park in Santa Fe, New Mexico—Photo LD Lewis. In August, we live through the Dog Days of Summer. It's hot and often humid, and those ...
Can you hear that sigh of relief from parents worldwide? Yes! September marks the return of students to school, a global phenomenon. Preparations for the ACT and SATs begin earnestly for ...
October is the busiest month for events, with 5% more happening than in May, the second most eventful month. Sailing enthusiasts will be glued to the finals of this year's Am...
Backward Day is an organic celebration with no sponsor, celebrated worldwide. The basic concept of today? Do everything in reverse.
Eat dessert first.
Call people by their last names.
Read a book back to front.
Back into your parking space.
See how many palindromes you can identify (words spelled the same forward and back).
You get the idea!
Historically there is something called "Backwards Day," but there is no specific reason for designating January 31 to observe it.
The original Backwards Day occurred in the Julian Calendar (45BC-1582), the predecessor of the modern Gregorian calendar. Day one of the Gregorian calendar is October 15, 1582 (though it would be the mid-1700s before it became the standard in Europe and the rest of the world).
Because the Sun's rotation around the earth is just shy of 365 days, the way the Roman's dealt with this was to shift the calendar backward one day every 128 years. With the rise of Christianity, this became a problem. The vernal equinox determines Easter, and over centuries, the Julian calendar caused the vernal equinox to move backward by ten days.
With its leap year every four years, the Gregorian calendar solved this problem. The Gregorian calendar also assured that the vernal equinox would always fall at the same time every year.
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