Isn't that the day in Springfield where they go about and kill all the snakes they can find???

Michale.....

I've imagined the terror our remote ancestors felt as the days got shorter & shorter & the "world" got colder & colder. They'd have no astronomical explanations to fall back on & no convincing argument that the trend wouldn't continue.

But then:

Day 1: It's stopped!
Day 2: Are you sure?
Day 3: YES REALLY!

making Dec 25th the perfect day for celebrating; remembering that ancient man did not have baseball's Spring Training to remind him of the eternal renewal of the world.

Your arguments about conflicting calenders is quite accurate & it was 1918 before Russia caught up to the rest of Europe.

So on to Boxing Day, the holiday we spend sleeping off/cleaning up the day before.

Yea, like I said.. Fizzbin...

Each person gets 6 cards, except the player on the dealer’s right, who gets 7. The second card dealt is turned face up, except at night, when it is face down. (Dark or night is defined as being the sunset time and before the sunrise time of the city in its own time zone.) On Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday, the cards in the pile cannot help you, but can only hurt you. On Friday, they can only help you. On Saturday and Tuesday, they can both help and hurt you.

:D

Michale....
211

Hah! Actually, earlier in that paragraph, when talking about the church, was:

"by the time of Constantine (fourth century AD)..."

That's when the church did its tinkering...

As for 2/29/2000, the rule goes like this:

Leap day added, because it is a leap year (every 4 years).
BUT leap day subtracted, because it is a 100 year (ends in 00)
BUT leap day added back, because it is a once-in-400-years event.

Because it just looked like a normal leap year, not many people noticed this, but it was one of the most unique things about the year 2000....

db -

Welcome to the site! Your first comment was held for moderation, but from now, you should be able to post your comments and see them appear instantly, just FYI (unless you post more than one link within your message, which are held to prevent comment spam).

Yeah, the solstice (both summer and winter) are the easiest days for the ancient shamans to have figured out. Pretty much all you need is a stick in the dirt, and a lot of patience. Watch the shadows, and when the noon shadow is farthest north, you've hit the winter solstace (sun is farthest south). In the northern hemisphere, at least...

-CW

Fizzbin, anyone??? :D

. And the traditional midwinter festival day was always the solstice. Now, in 46 BC, when Julian was tinkering around with the calendar, the winter solstice had been on December 25th. So everyone was already used to celebrating on that day. The church came up with a compromise: a celebration lasting from 12/25 to 1/6 -- the "twelve days of Christmas." Eventually, they just kind of gave up and started celebrating Christmas on December 25th, and everyone was happy.

So, if I understand you right, you are saying that everyone was celebrating Christ's birthday BEFORE Christ was born???

And people wonder why I am agnostic.... :^/

Good column, CW... :D

Michale
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