Strange September: Or Why We Get Our Paid Leaves

If you are on a Unix system try this out: At command prompt type: cal 9 1752

Thats the calendar for september 1752 and this is what appears

September 1752

S   M  Tu  W Th  F  S         12 13 14 15 1617 18 19 20 21 22 2324 25 26 27 28 29 30

Isn't the output queer? A month with whole eleven days less? This was the time England shifted from the Roman Julian Calendar to the Gregorian Calendar, and the king of England ordered those 11 days to be wiped off the face of the month of September of 1752. (What couldn't a King do in those days?!) And yes, the workers worked for 11 days less, but got paid for the entire 30 days. And that's how "Paid Leave" was born.


Hail the King!
Edited August 17, 2005 by microscopic^earthling (see edit history)

Wow. Thanks for the random fact!! But it's a cool thing to know about. *chuckle* Yes... during when kings ruled and servants served, a king could do anything. Nowadays, the president can't do EVERYTHING he wanted to do. He can't just send his US marines in to Europe and conquer countries... nope.Anyway, this "the ruler can't do everything" idea came from the belief, "All men are created equal." Yes, this is from the Bible. It doesn't and won't matter if you don't believe in God or not - it doesn't change the fact. The Bible is either a book full of truths or full of lies. I believe it's the first choice.Well, that's not the point. Beginning from the ideas of socialism and nationalism by some Russian freak who my class has studied about (a little) last year, proposed a system where everyone would be paid the equal amount, because everyone is the same and equal. The rich said no but the poor said yes. Of course, there were more poor then the rich.So, I guess you can figure what happens. Then it turned into capitalism where everyone is equal and has equal rights, etc, but because of this capitalism idea, you can own businesses, go to work, etc - and you will get paid by how much you work... or how much products your company sells. Or some other way.Well, too bad the King of Thailand can't issue a decree like that anymore... hahaha! You don't want to go back to the 1700's or the 1800's because there are no air conditioners and... well, no computers!! *sob*

haha ... that's rich. Pretty good find. Nice for some random trivia.

You know....some places are still very much still way back in time. Countries in places like Nigera and some parts of south-east Asia still follow a King/Queen idea and unlike modern us (ta!) the King/Queen cannot be elected but is just the throne passed down from father to son.

Personally, i never thought how the human race could be this cruel? Of course, waaaay back in those days everyone followed a king or queen because if they've got no leader then they've got no life.....or so they thought.

Anyway, this "the ruler can't do everything" idea came from the belief, "All men are created equal." Yes, this is from the Bible. It doesn't and won't matter if you don't believe in God or not - it doesn't change the fact. The Bible is either a book full of truths or full of lies. I believe it's the first choice.

Now now i do not quite believe the Bible started all this "All men are created equal" talk. The chinese also played a part in this. As most of you all would know, the Chinese came up with the idea of taking exams to prove your worth in becoming a minister or governor, thus the idea of having King's and Queens as rulers left the country, and in came governors, ministers, advisors, and such. I believe that there is usually still an Emperor but he listens to a board of advisors before making a decision.

I'm not trying to prove that the Chinese were a more superior race. It is true that the Bible has given people faith and knowledge too. All religions have their own beliefs and i believe in respect for all of them.

P.S I think I'm going a little too off-topic already...sorry

That's strangely amusing. Imagine if he found out how bad they screwed themselves

LOL that's one crazy find....how exactely did you find that? was it a typo that you entered or did you find this randomly while surfing?