Where would you restart the calendar?

[Clueless Morgan]

The beginning of the Renaissance.

The Italian Renaissance or the Northern Renaissance?

I like Becc's beginning of the Renaissance though that's hard to date. You could pin it to Erasmus I suppose. Other really important sea change dates occur to me: Newton's death or birth or perhaps publication of Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica; the publication date of Einstein's Theory of Relativity is another possible (I see Faith No More just beat me to this one); the dropping of the first atomic bomb; the inception of the internet.

[My bolding]

That would be a good one.

I think either 240BC or 1522AD deserve consideration as origin points of a calendar system.

240 BC is year of the first accurate measurement of earth's circumference. 1522 AD is the year of the first circumnavigation of the earth.

I also think 1492 AD is much more significant to human history than merely marking the vastly important discovery and colonization of America. It mark something even more portentous - the beginning of globalization of human civilization and that makes it for me the true beginning of the modern era.

I would think the discovery of the Americas is a more impactful moment in history than taking a measurement or circumnavigation; Discovering that there was an entire continent, let alone two entire continents, between Europe and Asia and that those continents were both already teaming with people was a monumental discovery.

It fundamentally changed the world in terms of exploration, economics, trade, colonization, world health, international relations, environmental impacts, exploitation of natural resources...

RationalPoet.......I really would only change the BC/AD crap considering that the Christian calender has pagan roots. BCE and CE are fine with me. Even if we could not the exact day the planet became a planet it would be a bitch to not that on a check in terms of billions of years.

4,000,002,015 would look stupid on a check.

"I'm sorry, I can't accept this check; you put too many zeros in the date." :p

Also, wouldn't the date be closer to 4,500,002,015? You're just going to carelessly leave out about half a billion years of Earth history?!? :p

I think I'd like to start it on the year of Galileo's birth, to mark the beginning of mankind realising they.not the centre of the universe and the triumph of science, evidence and reason over superstition.

Shouldn't that be credited to Copernicus? The displacement of earth from the center is commonly called the Copernican revolution, after all.

Why would you start the calendar year in the year Galileo/Copernicus was born? Why not the year they made their respective discoveries?

[Anomalocaris]

I like Becc's beginning of the Renaissance though that's hard to date. You could pin it to Erasmus I suppose. Other really important sea change dates occur to me: Newton's death or birth or perhaps publication of Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica; the publication date of Einstein's Theory of Relativity is another possible (I see Faith No More just beat me to this one); the dropping of the first atomic bomb; the inception of the internet.

Relativity, quantum mechanics, space travel, atomic energy, internet are all fine mile stones.

But principia set out the feasibility of the road and laid the first paving stone. So Principia wins.

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Why would you start the calendar year in the year Galileo/Copernicus was born? Why not the year they made their respective discoveries?

Doesn't matter. But others seem to prefer to set origin of the calendar to the birth or death of the actor rather than the date of the action.

[jesus_wept]

I think I'd like to start it on the year of Galileo's birth, to mark the beginning of mankind realising they.not the centre of the universe and the triumph of science, evidence and reason over superstition.

Shouldn't that be credited to Copernicus? The displacement of earth from the center is commonly called the Copernican revolution, after all.

I did think of Copernicus but it wasn't until Galileo that we had proof that the earth wasn't the centre of the universe, or the solar system at least. So I decided to go with Galileo instead.

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Why would you start the calendar year in the year Galileo/Copernicus was born? Why not the year they made their respective discoveries?

Because it's easier to say and write before or after Galileo (BG or AG) than before or after Galileo proved the solar system was heliocentric (BGPTSSWH).

But I'm not fussy, either will do.

[Clueless Morgan]

Why would you start the calendar year in the year Galileo/Copernicus was born? Why not the year they made their respective discoveries?

Because it's easier to say and write before or after Galileo (BG or AG) than before or after Galileo proved the solar system was heliocentric (BGPTSSWH).

Uuuumm... How about EC and SC for Earth-Centered and Sun-Centered? Or BH and AH Before Heliocentricity and After Heliocentricity?

It does rather tickle me to think that we could be living in the year 383 AGPTSSWH though or even 472 ACPTTSSWH (After Copernicus Proposed that the solar system was heliocentric)

[Chas]

Yes. And I would make it 12 30-day months with a non-month holiday between each quarter, and a New Year's Day once a year. And an extra New Year's Day every 4 years.

Nice. I like that. Would the winter holiday be back to back with New Year's? And on the leap year, would we have three straight days of party!?!?

Yeah, that sounds good.

Another way to go is 4 quarters of 30/30/31 day months with a New Year's Day, and a Midsummer Day in leap years.

Almost anything is more sensible than what we've got.

[KUSA]

I would start it on the day I was born. Why? Because I am the most important person in the universe.

Who are you?

From my perspective I'm the center of the universe and the most important thing in it. As far as I can tell all of you disappear into nothingness whenever I am in an unconscious state. In a sense I am God.

[Clueless Morgan]

From my perspective I'm the center of the universe and the most important thing in it.

Of course you'd say that, you're a cat.

[SteelCurtain]

Nice. I like that. Would the winter holiday be back to back with New Year's? And on the leap year, would we have three straight days of party!?!?

Yeah, that sounds good.

Another way to go is 4 quarters of 30/30/31 day months with a New Year's Day, and a Midsummer Day in leap years.

Almost anything is more sensible than what we've got.

Right?

*googles

I just learned a lot about months and the Gregorian calendar. I had no idea that there aren't leap years on the century marks except the ones divisible by 400. So the year 2100 will not be a leap year but the year 2400 will. Fascinating. Seems we owe the seemingly arbitrary month lengths to 'ol Julius and Augustus. The rascals and their egos.

It's little things like the fact that a year is really 365.2425 (and really slightly shorter than that---the Gregorian calendar will be one day ahead every 3300 years) days long that really cement that the universe wasn't created for us.

[Clueless Morgan]

It's little things like the fact that a year is really 365.2425 (and really slightly shorter than that---the Gregorian calendar will be one day ahead every 3300 years) days long that really cement that the universe wasn't created for us.

That's what instigated the change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar - by the 16th century the calendar had drifted something like 10 days "off" of the tropical or solar year and things needed to realigned.

The day Newton was born is contentious because of this, and the fact that different countries adopted the Gregorian calendar at different times - Newton was born December 25th, 1642 according to the Julian calendar, which is the calendar in use in Britain when he was born, but according to the Gregorian calendar, which we use now, and which the continent was using, he was born January 4th, 1643.

The US, UK and Canada didn't adopt the Gregorian Calendar until 1750-something, while almost all of Europe had already adopted it in the 17th century. So if you traveled from the UK to France in the year 1700, you'd not only cross the English Channel, you'd travel about 10 days into the future; or if you traveled from France to England in 1700, you'd travel about 85 miles (on average), AND about 10 days back in time.

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What about the formation of the Royal Society as a date to restart the calendar? It's the formation of the first organized group whose purpose was to gather together and discuss scientific topics and promote scientific knowledge.

That would make this year 355 RS.

[jesus_wept]

The 6th of January is still known as Old Christmas Day in some of the more rural parts of the UK.