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SUNDAY MAGAZINE
ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1921
University Opens September 16"
(By Hughsten . MeBain) W hat The Daily W ould Say Should The birthdays. For example, if a
And from now on, each and every was born March 9, he would
year the University shall commence Liberty Calendar Be Universally figure from the first of the yes
on Tuesday, Sept. 16. Christmas va- A ing 31 days for January, 28 f
cation will begin Friday, Dec. 20 while A eruary, and 9 for March. 1
the recess will close Jan. 2." Such a would come on Friday while Washing- year, say 270 days, which is the posi- would find he was born on t
statement seems ridiculous, but if the ton's would fall on Monday. I am tion of Sept. 27 this year. Consider- day of the year which would
Liberty Calendar should ever. be uni- strongly in favor of the mid-week holi- ing the other calendar, with its 28 Liberty 12 according to thep
versally adopted, such will be the days, for it splits the week up for the days to the month, this would bring calendar.
situation of things here at Michigan. laborer," he said. the opening date of school Sept. 18, "The world hesitates long
What is This Liberty Calendar? Of course if this calendar is ever Thursday. As school always opens undertaking such a revol
This is not the only calendar that adopted, it will have its drawbacks as on a Tuesday, a permanent date- thing as changing its calen
has been proposed to alleviate the ever the nations do, theyc
haphazard one of world usage today, ~ '. T . . r i . will adopt a calendar similar
but it is considered the best of them T he Liberty Calendar Liberty calendar, for it is e
all by the foremost calendar special- logical, simple, and sensible.'
ists and astronomers in the country.UUE T E7 iJT T U i F I SAT SUN The first universal calendar
The calendar comes from the Am- -ON _____"_WE____ ___adoped__wsintituedb
erican Equal Month Calendar associa- Caesar. It was based with c
tion of Minneapolis and is beyond the 2 3 i4 L 5 6E7 able accuracy upon the rea
theoretical stage.. More than two year, but in those days astronc
years ago a bill was introduced in not founded upon data tha
0 i u~ui-'icome only with the discovery
Congress to establish and adopt they d
Liberty calendar. At the present time, earth revolved around the su
though it is agreed that even a nationfoh 131 7 ay 1 9 2
as quick-acting as the United States r 9j n 2 1 1wsdsaifebcueAg,
I ed after hsm, had only 10 day
would consider long before adoptingedatrh ,hd ny3dy
such a radical 2change.succeeded in getting a day tab
T LbtCeaw ldi 'lFebruaryand added to his mo
The Liberty Calendar would divide inaccuracies in the Julian y
the year into 13 months of 28 days getting the calendar year aw
a person
have to
ir count-
for Feb-
He then
the 68th
fall on
proposed
before
utionary
dar. If
certainly
x to the
xtremoely
r year to
iyJulius
onsider-
al solar
omy was
at could
that' the
n.
;huamed
Augustus
ast, nam-
s, so he
en from
)th. The
ear kept
ay from
each. The association has figured that
the months would follow as they do
now, with the exception that an ad-
ditional month, "Liberty," would
come between February and March.
Thirteen months of 28,days each would
make a year of 364 days.' The extra
day would be known as "New Year's
Day" and would not appear on the
calendar. It would always come be-
tween Dec. 31 and Jan. 1. Every
fourth year there would be a "Correc-
tion Day," also not on the calendar,
which would be recognized as a legal
holiday, falling between Sept. 31 and
Oct. 1.
history dates will either have to be
revised, or set according to the new
schedule.
. Professor Curtiss seemed extremely
interested in the proposition that if
the calendar is ever adopted it will
materially assist in making the Uni-
versity year uniform' "The way we
could figure University dates would
be to count from the beginning of the
The Stoy o
(By Stella Brunt)
"This Liberty Calendar is the best This is a tale of adventure-genu-
one I have ever seen," said Prof.
Ralph H. Curtiss, of the astronomy de- ine adventure, with an atmosphere of
partment. "Yet I do not think it mystery abo'ut it, and a dash of fool-
should ever be adopted unless the hardiness. It did not happen in the
whole world agrees to do so. Inas- Klondike nor in Russia-since-the-war,
much as this calendar has been but-at Michigan! This is a story of
brought up before Congress, it cer- a literary magazine and how'it "hap-
taincy shows its merit. Several years pened."
ago a calendar proposing a week of A few know that "Whimsies" began
five days, having a Sunday every other lask year in a decidedly novel way, as
week, was brought to my attention a mimeographed pamphlet, with its
but its objectinable features were editorship a mystery. But how many
numerous. have heard the inner side of "Whim-
"There is absolutely no doubt in sies" interesting story-the why, and
my mind but that this calendar would who, and how of it?
prove practical and economical if There will always be a number in
adopted. Lots of time would be saved any group of students who will hold
that is now used by astronomers in obstinately to the notion that, just as
calculating far ahead. With this cal- much as a university believes in and
endar, .every important holiday would endeavors to develop the professions,
have a definite fixed date with the athletics, and the social side of life,
exception of Good Friday and Easter just so much should it believe in and
which would, of course, come as usual encourage the arts. About two years
the first Friday and Sunday when the ago, a certain small group of students
moon was full after the vernal equin- became frankly dissatisfied with Michi-
ox. It is interesting to note that gan because of the absence of recogni-
Fourth of July, Christmas, Thanksgiv- tiOn for this phase of life, through the
ing, and Armistice Day would all fall lack of any centralizing influence in
on Thursdays. Lincoln's birthday the direction.. They were convinced,
Sept. 16-could be easily set. The the true solar year during the centur-
same could be done with other import- 1es. In order to correct the errors,
ant University dates and we would Pope Gregory XIII issued a bull in
have then, not as now, but a uniform, Febuary, 1582, establishing a new cal-
smooth schedule that everyone would endar, according to which 11 days
know and adhere to. were skipped.. Tat calendar is the
"Another interesting point in con- one used by the civilized world today.
nection with the Liberty Calendar is Russia alone, at the time, declined to
that persons having birthdays the 29, follow the edict of the Roman Catho-
30, or 31 would have to have new lie head and continued using the Jul-
an calendar which accounts for the
difference, until a few years ago, of
( t ff 14 12 days between our dates and those
of Russia.
Another interesting calendar experi-
also, that there were other groups and mntwas that used by France during
individuals who felt the same dissatis- the revolutionary days. The year was
divided into 12 months of 30 days
faction, each, and each month was divided
Because the group was particularly into three periods of 10 days, dubbed
Interested in writing, their construct- decades. The French year began Sept.
ive thinking ran in the direction of a 22, 1793 Every tenth day was a holi-
publication. There was already a stu- day and the five days left over at
dent magazine for the professions, for the end of the year, between Sept. 17
current opinion, for athletics; one for and 21, were named the "Sansculot-
news; and one partly literary, but not tides" and were kept as festivals in
entirely so, one for humor. Surely honor of virtue; genius, labor, opinion,
there would be, in a student body of and reward. The extra day was honor-
ten thousand, sufficie- interest to ed as the feast of revolution.
support one publication devoted ex- The Frenchmen decided to name
elusively to the fine arts, if it could be their months with the season of the
put out inexpensively. Was that too year. So they evolved the following
large a program? Well, at least they months: Vendemiaire, Brumaire, Pri-
could begin by establishing a purely miaire, Nivose, Pluviose, Ventose,
literary magazine. Germinal, Floreal, Prairial, Messidor,
So it was, that one night last year, Thermidor, and Fructidor. They were
five students pledged themselves to named by Fabre d' Eglantine, a poet,
the cause: to share expenses, to do and lasted till Jan. 1,. 1806 when
manual labor, even to furnish their France adopted the Gregorian calen-
own manuscripts until outside help dar.
should come, and-until it grew be- The Mohammedans have a calendar
yond the possibility of ridicule-to of their own. They began their year
keep identities secret. with, the time of Mohammed's flight
Some weeks later the five entered from Mecca. on Thursday, July 16, 622
the Observatory by one of the back A. D. Hence their year is 622 years
(Continued on Page Seven) behind ours.