UNDERSTANDING EARLY DATES

It is important for the reader to understand that our calendar system and the way we understand dates has changed throughout history. Prior to the year 1752, England and its colonies (America) followed the Julian Calendar; being an ecclesiastical calendar established by the Christian church in 325 A.D., which marked New Year’s Day as March 25. Interestingly, the Latin roots of our words for “September”, “October”, “November” and “December” still reflect this old calendar system, meaning “seventh”, “eighth”, “ninth” and “tenth” month. However, in the year 1752, England and its colonies (America) officially changed its calendar system to the Gregorian Calendar, establishing New Year’s Day on January 1^st. This shift in dating systems often creates much confusion for any date between January 1 to March 24, prior to the year 1752. For instance, in the old calendar system, a man could die in March of 1740, yet, be alive in December of 1740! If we see the date February 2, 1721, we automatically assume that it is in the year 1721, when in fact, by our current calendar system it actually occurred in the year 1722. One way to decrease the confusion is by “double-dating” all dates that fall between January 1 and March 24, before 1752. For instance, February 2, 1721 would be written February 2, 1721/2, reflecting both the Julian date (1721) and the corresponding Gregorian date (1722). Make note that the shift from the old calendar to the new calendar occurred on January 1, 1752, whereby, the day before was December 31, 1751. Within this blog, all dates ranging between January 1 to March 24, prior to the year 1752, are double-dated.