Frank Evans wrote:
>Jim Cobb seems to have the calendar situation clear. In 1752 the UK
>government deleted eleven days (not ten) from the calendar, going from
>Tuesday 2 September to Wednesday 14 September. In my schooldays every
>English child knew of the riots that ensued. The mob, believing their
>lives had been shortened, cried: "Give us back our eleven days". (The
>real trouble, though, was that the next rent day would arrive eleven
>days early.)
>
>But it appears that the nearer to 1752 you enquire, the more nebulous
>the rioting becomes until finally there seems to be no contemporary
>evidence for it at all. It's all a nineteenth century myth, a bit like
>the story of William Tell.
>
<snip>
Someone in this group pointed out that this change accounted for the
strange start of the British Tax year. It starts on April 6th. The reason
was that before the change the year started March 25th. and to avoid having
a shorter year (and avoid riots??) they pushed it back 11 days to April 6th.
Cheers,
john
Professor John P.G.Shepherd
Physics Department
University of Wisconsin-River Falls
410 S. 3rd. St.
River Falls,WI 54022
Phone (715)-425-3196, eve. (715)-425-6203
Fax (715)-425-0652
44.88 degrees N, 92.71 degrees W.
