Epoch
The epoch of the Julian calendar was on the Saturday before the Monday that was the epoch of the Gregorian calendar. In other words, Gregorian 1 January 1 AD = Julian 3 January 1 AD. The Revised Julian reform not only changed the leap rule but also made the epoch the same as that of the Gregorian calendar. This seems to have been carried out implicitly, and even scientific articles make no mention of it. Nevertheless, it is impossible to implement calendrical calculations and calendar date conversion software without appreciating this detail and taking the 2-day shift into account. If the original Julian calendar epoch is mistakenly used in such calculations then there is no way to reproduce the currently accepted dating of the Revised Julian calendar, which yields no difference between Gregorian and Revised Julian dates in the 21st century.
Read more about this topic: Revised Julian Calendar
Famous quotes containing the word epoch:
“Our own epoch is determining, day by day, its own style. Our eyes, unhappily, are unable yet to discern it.”
—Le Corbusier [Charle Édouard Jeanne] (1887–1965)
“The death of a dear friend, wife, brother, lover, which seemed nothing but privation, somewhat later assumes the aspect of a guide or genius; for it commonly operates revolutions in our way of life, terminates an epoch of infancy or of youth which was waiting to be closed, breaks up a wonted occupation, or a household, or style of living, and allows the formation of new ones more friendly to the growth of character.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“The goal of every culture is to decay through over-civilization; the factors of decadence,—luxury, scepticism, weariness and superstition,—are constant. The civilization of one epoch becomes the manure of the next.”
—Cyril Connolly (1903–1974)