Calendars: still a useful item!

If you old fashioned like me, you will be looking forward to receiving one or two printed calendars in a few days. As each year draws to an end, calendars for the New Year are sent out as gifts and are much appreciated by most people, especially if it is one with beautiful scenes or something pretty; or a wise quote! Portraits of famous people in history relevant to the country are also nice and are a reminder of their achievements.

Despite many people using their cell phones these days to check time; day and date, there is nothing like a beautiful calendar hanging on the wall, with the days marked clearly, which not only acts as a decoration but which can be used to mark your engagements and special occasions like birthdays etc: If you are a fan of social media, you do not need this reminder as it sends you one but if you are ‘old-fashioned’ with ingrained habits, then a calendar is indispensable. Desk calendars are useful too but more for business persons or those who sit at their desks and want a quick reference to make appointments etc.

It takes months of planning to produce a calendar, get it printed and ready to be in the market well before the New Year, which is crucial if it is a commercial proposition or one used to raise funds for a project/cause. It should be available well in time so those who are looking for one can choose. It should be appealing and useful at the same time. If you are IT inclined you can use the Google calendar on your computer but I repeat there is nothing like a wall calendar - in sight and ready to consult/use!

Interesting facts: The term calendar is taken from calendae, the term for the first day of the month in the Roman calendar, related to the verb calare ‘to call out,’ referring to the ‘calling’ of the new moon when it was first seen. Latin calendarium meant ‘account book/ register’ (as accounts were settled and debts were collected on the end of each month). The Latin term was adopted in Old French as calendier and from there in Middle English as ‘calender’ by the 13th century - the spelling ‘calendar’ is early modern.

The first calendar was made when Julius Caesar became ‘pontifex maximus.’ He reformed the calendar by getting rid of the intercalary months. The Julian calendar was created then completed during his successor Augustus’ reign. The Gregorian calendar was introduced as a refinement of the Julian calendar in 1582 and is in worldwide use as the de facto calendar for secular purposes.1752 began on 1 January. To align the calendar in use in England to that on the continent, the Gregorian calendar was adopted and the calendar was advanced by 11 days - Wednesday 2 September 1752 was followed by Thursday 14 September 1752. The year 1752 was thus a short year (355 days).

There are over forty calendars currently in use and many others that have been used or have been invented. They thus come in many forms and may be divided into purely lunar calendars; purely solar calendars; lunisolar calendars and solilunar calendars. The Chinese name their years after an animal and 2018 is the year of the Earth Dog.