testing and its important was Re: [Tutor] re: Leap year problem

[Magnus Lycka]

At 18:06 2003-01-14 -0800, Sean 'Shaleh' Perry wrote:
>A.D. 100 was not a leap year but it looks like it might be.

This is way off topic, but 100 A.D. *was* a leap year!

In Gregorian calendars, 100 A.D. would not be a leap year, but
Gregorian calendars weren't used in 100 A.D. Gregory XIII who
commissioned the development of this calendar became pope in 1572.
"His" calendar was introduced in different years in different
countries (except in Sweden were it's more complicated :).

Before that, the Julian calendar, introduced by Julius Caesar
in 45 B.C. was used. In Julian calendars every fourth was a leap
year. That is why the Julian and Gregorian new years drifted
away from each other.

I don't think anyone had calculated the length of the year with
high enough precision in 45 B.C. to make a better approximation
than 365.25, even if the Mayan astronomers achieved higher
precision long before Gregory's time...


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Magnus Lycka, Thinkware AB
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