Skip to main content

Pinned Post

Battle of Iwo Jima Facts, Significance, Photos, & Map

 Battle of Iwo Jima Date 19 February – 26 March 1945 (1 month and 1 week) Location  Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, Japan Result  American victory USAAF fighter aircraft able to escort B-29's on missions to Japan. Americans gain an emergency landing base for damaged aircraft returning from missions on Japan. Belligerents  United States  Japan Commanders and leaders U.S. Navy: Chester W. Nimitz Raymond A. Spruance Marc A. Mitscher William H. P. Blandy U.S. Marine Corps: Holland M. Smith Harry Schmidt Graves B. Erskine Clifton B. Cates Keller E. Rockey Tadamichi Kuribayashi † Takeichi Nishi † Sadasue Senda † Rinosuke Ichimaru † Units involved American: Ground units: V Amphibious Corps 3rd Marine Division 4th Marine Division 5th Marine Division 147th Infantry Regiment (separate) Aerial units: Seventh Air Force Naval units: 5th Fleet Joint Expeditionary Force (TF 51) Amphibious Support Force (TF 52) Attack Force (TF 53) Expeditionary Troops (TF 56) Fast Carrier Force (T...

Gregorian calendar-facts and definition

 

The introduction of the Gregorian calendar, depicted in relief on the tomb of Pope Gregory XIII in St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City.

Gregorian calendar, also called New Style calendar, solar dating system now in general use. It was proclaimed in 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII as a reform of the Julian calendar.

By the Julian reckoning, the solar year comprised 365 1/4 days, and the intercalation of a “leap day” every four years was intended to maintain correspondence between the calendar and the seasons. A slight inaccuracy in the measurement (the solar year comprising more precisely 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, 45.25 seconds) caused the calendar dates of the seasons to regress almost one day per century.

Although this regression had amounted to 14 days by Pope Gregory’s time, he based his reform on restoration of the vernal equinox, then falling on March 11, to March 21, the date it occurred in 325 CE, which was the time of the First Council of Nicaea, and not the date of the equinox at the time of the birth of Christ, when it fell on March 25. The change was effected by advancing the calendar 10 days after October 4, 1582, the day following being reckoned as October 15.

The Gregorian calendar differs from the Julian only in that no century year is a leap year unless it is exactly divisible by 400 (e.g., 1600 and 2000). A further proposed refinement, the designation of years evenly divisible by 4,000 as common (not leap) years, would keep the Gregorian calendar accurate to within one day in 20,000 years.

Within a year, the change had been adopted by the Italian states, Portugal, Spain, and the Roman Catholic German states. Gradually, other countries adopted the Gregorian calendar: the Protestant German states in 1699, Great Britain and its colonies in 1752, Sweden in 1753, Japan in 1873, China in 1912, the Soviet socialist republics in 1918, and Greece in 1923. Islamic countries tend to use the Gregorian calendar for secular life but retain calendars based on Islam for religious purposes.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Karl Marx Biography, Theory, Beliefs, Children & Communism

 Karl Marx Born Karl Heinrich Marx 5 May 1818 Trier, Prussia, German Confederation Died 14 March 1883 (aged 64) London, England Burial place 17 March 1883, Tomb of Karl Marx, Highgate Cemetery, London, England Nationality Prussian (1818–1845) Stateless (after 1845) Political party Communist Correspondence Committee (until 1847) Communist League (1847–1852) International Workingmen's Association (1864–1872) Spouse(s) Jenny von Westphalen​ (m. 1843; died 1881)​ Children 7, including Jenny, Laura and Eleanor Parents Heinrich Marx (father) Henriette Pressburg (mother) Relatives Louise Juta (sister) Jean Longuet (grandson) Philosophy career Education University of Bonn University of Berlin University of Jena (PhD, 1841) Era 19th-century philosophy Region Western philosophy School Continental philosophy Marxism Thesis Differenz der demokritischen und epikureischen Naturphilosophie  (The Difference Between the Democritean and Epicurean Philosophy of Nature) (1841) Doctoral advisor Br...

Miyamoto Musashi-Japanese soldier-artist

 Miyamoto Musashi Utagawa Kuniyoshi: woodcut of Miyamoto Musashi Born Shinmen Bennosuke  1584, Harima Province or Mimasaka Province, Japan Died 13 June 1645 (aged 60–61) Higo Province, Japan Native name 宮本武蔵 Other names Niten Dōraku; Shinmen Musashi no Kami Fujiwara no Wezou Residence Japan Style Hyōhō Niten Ichi-ryū Kenjutsu (二天一流), Enmei-ryu (圓明流), (二天流) Children Mikinosuke (adopted) Kurōtarō (adopted) Iori (adopted) Yoemon (adopted) Daughter of unknown name Notable students Takemura Yoemon; Terao Magonojō; Terao Motomenosuke; Furuhashi Sōzaemon Japanese name Kanji              宮本 武蔵 Hiragana      みやもと むさし Katakana     ミヤモト ムサシ Transcriptions Romanization       Miyamoto Musashi Miyamoto Musashi, original name Miyamoto Masana, artistic name Niten, (born 1584, Mimasaka or Harima, Japan—died June 13, 1645, Higo), famous Japanese soldier-artist of the early Edo (Tokugawa) period (1603–1867). Mus...

Pistol history & facts

 Pistol (weapon) Browning Hi Power, a single-action 9-mm semiautomatic pistol. pistol, small firearm designed for one-hand use. According to one theory, pistols owe their name to the city of Pistoia, Italy, where handguns were made as early as the late 15th century. Flintock pistol, c. 1650 Dating from the 16th century, the earliest practical pistols typically were single-shot muzzle-loading arms employing wheel-lock or various flintlock ignition systems, and they evolved simultaneously with shoulder weapons such as the harquebus, musket, and fowling gun. Such handguns were produced in a wide range of sizes and calibres, from large military “horse” pistols to small pocket and muff pistols for personal protection. The adoption of percussion ignition in the 1830s allowed the design of more-complex repeating pistols, notably the pepperbox and the revolver. In turn, the advent of the self-contained metallic cartridge in the 1860s allowed the convenience of breech loading and ultimately...