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Home , Anno Domini, Calendar reform, Calendar year, World Calendar

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A N 8 8 D 8 B 1 AR SINCE www. NYLJ.com Volume 265—NO. 21 , Februay 2, 2021

Commentary The Law of Reform: We Got Rid of 2020, But Why Stop There?

by Timothy G. Nelson

hen the year 2020 ended, business friendly system. The calen- it was met with almost dar is more malleable than might be unprecedented derision. thought. “Good Riddance, 2020,” The Components Of the Calendar wasW a common refrain. Netflix’s end- of-year comedy retrospective was titled The “calendar” is a system for orga- “Death to 2020.” The Washington Post nizing —both time already elapsed, even convened a panel of historians to and time yet to elapse. Today’s cal- debate whether 2020 was the “Worst endar is an amalgam of five different shutterstock Year Ever.” concepts: all time units, including the base unit The expiry of the “Annus Horribilus,” Days. The is the length of time of one , were once calibrated of course, merely marks the comple- for the Earth to rotate. according to the length of a “tropical tion of a numbered . And The “Calendar Year.” Although a year” (using the length of the year 1900 a calendar in turn, is a complex (and “year” is considered a constant, as the base) in some respects convoluted) system the “calendar year” varies from . The numbering of 365 days in a normal calendar for organizing and measuring time. our is based on the assump- year and 366 days in a . Although we tend to think of the cal- tion that Christ was born on As all schoolchildren are taught, the endar, with its 12 , 365 day (and reason for this variation is that the Year 1, originated midway through leap year) system, as a constant, the actual amount of time Earth to com- the first , with the bless- reality is that it is a human construct— plete its orbit (the “”) is ing of the Church. This accounts the product of laws and conventions. approximately 365.24 days—hence for the suffix “A.D.,” meaning Anno For Americans, the calendar the addition of a “leap day,” usually Domini—“the year of our Lord” – system is the product of colonial laws every four years, in order to correct covering years post-dating that that were enacted in the mid-18th cen- for this. Specifically, a “leap day” is , and “B.C.” (“Before Christ”) inserted every four years except in a tury. Conceivably, Congress and/or for years preceding it. In recent year marking a (hence, the state legislatures could alter those laws years, some have begun the suffixes year 1900 had no leap day), with the (and thus alter the calendar) should further proviso that for a century “C.E.” (“common ”) and B.C.E. they see fit. Indeed, not too long ago, year that is divisible by 400, there (“before ”) to avoid the there was a spirited attempt to do will be a leap day. Hence, the year religious connotations associated persuade Congress of the virtues of 2000 did have a leap day. with the more traditional “A.D.” and calendar “reform” (or “simplification”), Despite this quirk, the concept of a “B.C.” rearranging our 12 irregularly-spaced year is so elemental (indeed, primal), . Our system of having 12 months in favor of a more streamlined, and so seemingly easy to observe, that months dates back to the Classical Tuesday, Februay 2, 2021

era. It was first standardized under Although the “” Movements: the Roman Empire under what was was immediately adopted in Catholic From the French Resolution to called “,” after Julius countries such as and Spain, it George Eastman Caesar. The Roman origins are evi- dent not only in the Latinate names was only adopted by Britain in 1750. Pope Gregory, however, did not have of many of the months (e.g., Septem- Under the Calendar (New Styles) Act the last word on calendar reform. The ber, October), but also from the fact enacted that year, which applied “in polyglot nature of the calendar—whose that two of the months, July and and throughout all his Majesty’s and months are wholly unsyn- August, are named after members dominions and countries in Europe, chronized—as well as its stubborn of the Julio-Claudian dynasty (Julius Asia, Africa, and America”—thus non-decimal numbering (seven days and August Caesar, respectively). extending to the original American a ) and uneven months, have led The calendar “month” is itself not colonies—the Act adopted the Grego- to periodic calls for rationalization. a scientific concept, but it has ves- rian calendar as and from 1752 (and A dramatic (indeed notorious) tigial links to the (the lengthy of time for the Moon to orbit directed that the period Sept. 2, 1752 attempt at calendar reform was made the Earth). through Sept. 14, 1752 be skipped, during the French Revolution. The Weeks. Our seven-day week is an in order to correct the Julian drift). Republican calendar abolished the even more ancient tradition; it As a pre-colonial law of general 7-day week in favor of 10-day weeks, is prescribed for example, in the application, the Calendar (New and created an entirely different series Ten Commandments and the era of of months. Under the reformed sys- Moses. It is a stand-alone concept tem, the years ran afresh from the The calendar is more malleable with no mathematical connection date of the Resolution (Year I = 1792), either to a year or a month. than might be thought. and months were given new names, The Legal Basis for The Calendar beginning with “Vendémiaire” (on what Styles) Act continued in force in was once September 22) and running Our calendar system may derive the United States—and had some through to “Fructidor” (occupying what from tradition but it has a firm statu- real-world implications (e.g., was once late August/early September). tory basis, tracing back to colonial although, by statute, George Washing- Each month was 30 days long, and was . ton’s birthday has been celebrated on divided into three 10-day weeks (con- As noted above, the traditional February 22 each year, he was actu- fusingly called “”). The spare “Julian” calendar was the product of ally born on Feb. 11, 1731 under the days would be collected and gathered Roman Empire regulation, which in old calendar). as a series of festivals at the end of turn, was continued in European his- By the end of the 20th century, most the year. tory (including through the general countries had given up on the Julian This was all too much for most influence of the Catholic Church). In calendar, and the Gregorian calendar people. After he was made Emperor, the 16th century, however, Europeans (along with Western numbering of Napoleon abolished the Republican realized that the Julian calendar had years) for secular purposes was all calendar and restored the Gregorian slightly overestimated the length of but ubiquitous. (A relatively late con- calendar. (Ironically, however, Napo- any one year, with the result that, over vert was Russia, which only switched leon Bonaparte’s 1799 coup d’état is the , the earth’s after the revolution of 1917.) At the still remembered as “18 Brumiere,” and had slipped behind present date, the Gregorian calendar because it occurred on 18 Brumaire, their proper places in the calendar by (and Western numbering) is standard Year VII under the Republican calen- approximately 10 days. Consequently, in virtually all countries, and is utilized dar (Nov. 9, 1789 under the Gregorian in 1582, Pope Gregory XIII issued a by the International Bureau of Weights calendar).) papal bull mandating the adoption of and Measures in administering Coor- The next serious attempt at calen- a new calendar (the “Gregorian calen- dinated , the time scale dar reform came more than a cen- dar”) that corrected the 10-day drift that forms the basis for the coordinated tury later, with an attempt to adopt and slightly reduced the number of dissemination of standard frequencies a 13-month year, with equal months leap years going forward. and time signals.” and synchronized weeks. This began Tuesday, Februay 2, 2021 when the Pan American Conference The advantage of this system lies “Calendar Reform” And Vatican II (the precursor to the Organization in its fixity: The third day of every month would always be a Tuesday; of American States) met in Havana, After World War II, efforts were made each month would have the exact Cuba in 1928, and enacted a resolu- same number of working days. But by various governments to promote tion calling for the League of Nations the obvious mathematical chal- calendar reform within the United to convene a general conference on lenge is that it creates a 364-day Nations, again without success. In addi- “simplification of the calendar.” In urg- year (13 times 28), leaving a 1.25- tion to the 13-month model, a 12-month ing this, the Pan American Conference day shortfall each year. The reform- perpetual “” was advo- noted the anomalies in the current ers proposed to deal with this by cated: this would have 91 days “in a calendar such as “[i]nequality in the adding an extra (or “blank”) day to rotating pattern of 31, 30, and 30 days.” length of the divisions of the year” the last (13th) month (which they “The day after December 30 was des- would call a “Peace Day,” or an (e.g., January is longer than February), ignated World Day and not assigned extra “”), as well as retain- and that “the position of the weeks in ing a leap day every four years (but a weekday status or number; another the quarters varies each year; that is repositioning it from February to such day was tacked on after June 30 to say, the weeks overlap the divisions mid-year, and also treating it as a in leap years.” of a year in a different way each time, blank day). By the 1960s, however, opposition to and complications accordingly arise in Effectively, therefore, the Eastman calendar reform had coalesced, includ- the reckoning of accounts, statistics, plan would involve periodic interrup- ing among religious groups. In 1962, as and so forth.” tions to the cycle of a seven-day week; part of the Second Vatican Ecumeni- The Havana resolution, which was a cycle has been repeating itself for cal Council (“Vatican II”), Pope Paul VI apparently warmly supported by the (literally) time immemorial. As even announced that although the Church U.S. delegates, prompted Represen- Eastman’s camp conceded, this plan “does not oppose efforts designed to tative Stephen Porter (then Chair of was radical; it represented a “compre- introduce a into the Foreign Relations Committee) to hensive change in long-established cus- civil society,” it had reservations about propose legislation to allow for an toms.” Another drawback noted by the any system that would interrupt the American delegation to attend a forth- proponents of the Eastman Calendar even day week: coming League of Nations conference was that “[s]uperstitious regard for Fri- [A]mong the various systems which to consider the matter. At the ensuing day the 13th, occurring every month, is are being suggested to stabilize a per- House Committee hearings of 1928 difficult to overcome.” As indicated in petual calendar and to introduce it into and 1929, “calendar reform” received the above table, the 13th would civil life, the Church has no objection a rapturous enforcement from indus- be a recurring feature of a reformed only in the case of those systems which trialist George Eastman, the chairman 13-month calendar. retain and safeguard a seven-day week of a national “Committee on Calendar Not surprisingly, Congress did not with , without the introduction Simplification.” endorse it, with the result that the of any days outside the week, so that Eastman and his allies claimed that, United States was without official rep- the succession of weeks may be left although the “inconveniences” of the resentation at the League of Nations intact, unless there is question of the existing calendar had been tolerated conference that met in Geneva in 1931 most serious reasons. Concerning because of “custom and tradition,” to discuss the issue. these the Apostolic See shall judge. there was a compelling business case Despite strong continued advoca- This pronouncement—coming as for a year based on thirteen equal cy from American delegates at it does from one of the world’s most months. Under this plan, a new summer that conference for calendar reform, influential bodies (not to mention the month (called “Sol”) would be inserted the conference failed to produce any original author of the Gregorian calen- between June and July, resulting in 13 consensus or agreed pathway forward. dar)—represented a major setback for months of 28 days’ length, with every A further push was made in 1937, when calendar reform, and may well account single month beginning on Sunday the the Chilean government raised the for the relative lack of reform advocacy 1st, and each one ending on matter at the Council of the League of since 1962. The Eastman Calendar, how- the 28th, as follows: Nations, but the matter was shelved. ever, retained at least one small core of Tuesday, Februay 2, 2021 adherents: it remained in use at East- Moreover, every now and again, * * * man’s Rochester operations long after countries have been known to flout George Eastman’s and Elizabeth Mr. Eastman’s death in 1932, and its Universal Time. In 1997 (in advance of Acheilis’s dogged campaigns for “calen- use at the plant was only discontinued the new millennium), for example, the dar reform” are a case study in futility, in 1988. Pacific state of Kiribati announced that as is the French Revolutionary model some of its islands would be placed of the 1790s. Whatever the aesthetic Other Reforms To Our System of Time 14 ahead of Greenwich Mean or economic merits of having a “per- While the calendar has resisted calls Time. Even though this created a 2- petual” calendar, most people would for reform, other elements of time bulge in the , it surely resist changes to a cycle that, remain in flux. Within the United States, attracted little sanction. in the popular mind, has continued time zones are primarily regulated by Finally, the base unit of the “sec- since time immemorial. However keen Congress through the Universal Time ond” itself has itself changed. As we may be as “adopters” of new tech- Act (which also has prescribed day- noted above, until 1967, “” nologies, the basics of how we count light saving time) and embraces UTC were measured by referenced to the our days, weeks and years are unlikely (“Coordinated Universal Time”) as pre- amount of time it took for Earth to to be altered in the foreseeable . scribed by the General Conference on orbit the (the “tropical year”). Yet Even so, the recent tweaks to our base Weights and Measures. Time zones, the Earth’s transit around the sun can measurement of the second are a small however, are susceptible to change— very, due to the gravitational pull of but significant reminder that our calen- as most recently witnessed by the 2005 planets and other factors, thus leading dar is a human construct—a product amendments that extended daylight the BIPM to abandon this standard. of laws and regulations—and, as such, saving time in the United States. Even Moreover, many other standards for intrinsically susceptible to change. more radically (and despite the seem- measuring time, such as an ordinary ingly preemptive nature of the Uniform pendulum , are subject to the Time Act), there are periodic calls at vicissitudes of gravity—for example Timothy G. Nelson is a partner at Skadden, the state level for individual states to a pendulum stationed at altitude Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. move their time zones. For example, a will swing slightly differently than a 2019 initiative by a New York state leg- pendulum at sea level. Thus, in 1967, islator proposed to abandon daylight the BIPM agreed that “an atomic stan- saving and re-align New York with the dard of time, based on a transition Canadian maritime provinces (which between two energy levels of an atom are on Atlantic time). The bill’s stated or a molecule,” provided the most pre- “justification” was that cise means of measuring a second. “[t]he seasonal switch back and It adopted a definition of the second forth from “referenced to the frequency of the causes productivity losses and ground state hyperfine transition in leads to an increased risk of car the cesium 133 atom.” And in 2019, accidents, health complications, this definition was refined further. A and other damaging consequenc- second is now defined as “equal to es. This switch is compounded by the of 9 192 631 770 periods New York’s position in the Eastern of the radiation corresponding to the Standard . If the state transition between the two hyperfine switched to Atlantic Standard levels of the unperturbed ground state Time, sunsets would be an hour of the 133Cs atom.” (https://www.bipm. later each day, a change would org/metrology/time-frequency/units. be especially helpful in the win- html.) Even in the last two years, Reprinted with permission from the Februay 2, 2021 edition of the NEW YORK ter, when the sun would no longer therefore, the way we measure time LAW JOURNAL © 2021 ALM Media Properties, LLC. All rights reserved. Further duplication without permission is prohibited. For information, contact set before 5pm.” has materially changed. 877-256-2472 or [email protected]. # NYLJ-02012021-477477