Computer Geek Trivia
Ok all you computer geeks out there.
As you may know, when calculating a Julian Date the start date is
January 1, 4713 B.C.
Why was this date chosen?
As you may know, when calculating a Julian Date the start date is
January 1, 4713 B.C.
Why was this date chosen?
Comments
Although this MAY look like google answer, I actually had to confirm with the wife...she remembers it like it was yesterday.
So is she a bigger geek or just realllyyyy really old....:)
Geek? No
but the rest...well...lets just say when she reads this...ohhhhhhh, I'm going to be in a whole new world of pain
Joseph Justus Scaliger (1540--1609) was a noted Italian-French philologist and historian who was interested in chronology and reconciling the dates in historical documents. As many calendars were in use around the world this created the problem of which one to use. To solve this Scaliger invented his own era and reckoned dates by counting days. He started with 4713 BC January 1 because that was when solar cycle of 28 years (when the days of the week and the days of the month in the Julian calendar coincide again), the Metonic cycle of 19 years (because 19 solar years are roughly equal to 235 lunar months) and the Roman indiction of 15 years (decreed by the Emperor Constantine) all coincide. There was no recorded history as old as 4713 BC known in Scaliger's day, so it had the advantage of avoiding negative dates. Joseph Justus's father was Julius Caesar Scaliger, which might be why he called it the Julian Cycle