Britain's switch to the Gregorian calendar in 1752 and the 11 days that disappeared
On 2 September 1752 Great Britain switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian, some 170 years after Pope Gregory XIII proposed abandoning the outdated system of reckoning time.
And so, in Britain in 1752, 2 September was followed directly by 14 September. Eleven days vanished from the history of the empire. The British were, of course, shaken by the change and took a long time to get used to it. As late as the early twentieth century, more than 150 years after the switch, they were still celebrating the old Christmas on 7 January.
Though why am I telling this to you, my dear celebrants of the Old New Year! After all, Russia moved to the Gregorian calendar less than a hundred years ago, in 1918, so we still have time for nostalgia.
Thailand and Ethiopia, meanwhile, still do not use the Gregorian calendar.
