The Gregorian calendar was introduced in 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII. It replaced the Julian calendar and divides the year into 365.25 days. To account for the quarter day every fourth (leap) year has an extra day. The 365 or 366 days are further divided into 12 months which have varying numbers of days depending on the lunar cycle:
January – 31 days
February – 28 days and 29 days in a leap year
March – 31 days
April – 30 days
May – 31 days
June – 30 days
July – 31 days
August – 31 days
September – 30 days
October – 31 days
November – 30 days
December – 31 days
Britain was the last Western European country to introduce the calendar and in 1752, Wednesday 2nd September was followed by Thursday 14th September. Reports that large numbers of people demonstrated against the government demanding the return of their lost days is fictitious and came about due to a misinterpretation of a Hogarth painting of the event.
