The Dance of Time : The Origins of the Calendar by Michael Judge is a great book for those folks who like to spout facts at parties. It is also is fun for those of us who really do want to know why December is the 12th month instead of 10th? (That is because they put in extra months and kept trying to change the names - but everyone kept using the old ones!)
Judge takes a logical approach and first begins his history with how the concept of capturing and notating time began. What religious and pagan festivals played a part and what groups were responsible for keeping or creating the traditions is part of his analysis. Then he goes in depth and does a month by month essay while highlighting the days and traditions that are still carried on today.
Some fun facts for your next shindig : Did you know that Halloween is one of the oldest celebrated pagan festivals - that has not changed much at all in character during that time and it predates Christianity by "at least five hundred years"? And the date has remained the same during that time frame? Did you know that the year used to start on March 25th? And that "New Year's Day" fluxuated between Jan 1 and March 25th until the adoption of the Gregorian calendar reforms - and not even then?
Great book - lots of information - Great read
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