======================TIME=============================================== 20-Mar Spring Equinnox first Sun April Daylight saving 20-Jun Summer Solstice 22-Sep Autumn Equinnox Last Sun Oct Daylight saving 21-Dec Winter Solstice ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SEASON & CLOCK DATES Time Zones Eastern, Central, Illinois Central Mountain and Pacific. Spring Equinox day and night equal March 20 Daylight saving move 1 hr ahead. 2a.m. on 1st Sunday April Summer Solistice sun is farthest north of equator June 20 Autumn Equinox day and night equal length) September22 Daylight saving End move 1 hr back 2 a.m. on last Sunday October winter Solistice sun farthest south of equator December 21 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ZODIAC symbol dates Aries Ram March 21-April 19 Taurus Bull April 20-May 20 Gemini Twins May 21-June 20 Cancer Crab June 21-July 22 Leo Lion July 23-Aug 22 Virgo Virgin Aug 23-Sept 22 Libra Balance Sept 23-Oct 22 Scorpio Scropion 0ct 23-Nov 21 Sagittarius Archer Nov 22-Dec 21 Capricorn Goat Dec 22- Jan 19 Aquaruis WaterBearer Jan 20-Feb 18 Pisces Fish Feb 19- March 20 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- holiday Date (listed in chronological order) NewYears Day January 1 Epiphany Sunday on or bcfora January 8 Marlin Luther King Da 3rd Monday January or January 15 Robert E. Lee Day January 18 NalionalFreedom Day February 1 Groundhog Day February 2 Lincoln's Birthday February 12 Presidentr Day 3rd Monday February Valentine's Day February 14 Susan B. Anthony Day February 15 Ash Wednesday 47 days before Easter St Patrick's Day March 17 St. Joseph's Day March 19 Juarez' Birthday March 21 (Mexico) Palm Sunday Sunday before Easter Maundy Thunday Thusrday before Easter Good Friday Friday before Easter Easter lst Sunday after ist full moon after the Spring equinox. Pan American Day April 14 SecretariesDay 4th Wednesday in April Arbot Day Last Friday in April Loyalty Day May 1 Cincoda Mayo May5(Mexico) Ascension 40 days after Easter Pentecost 50 days after Easter Mother's Day 2nd Sunday in May Armed Forces Day 3rd Saturday in May National Maritime Day May 22 Victoria Day 1st Monday before May 25 Memorial Day Last Monday in May Flag Day Junel4 Father's Day 3rd Sunday in June Independence Day(US) July 4 AJsumption Day August 15 Labor Day 1st Monday in September Grandparent's Day 1st Sunday after Labor Day Citizenship Day September 17 Child Health Day 1st Monday in October Columbus Day 2nd Monday in October World Poetry Day October 15 Boss Day October 16 United Nations Day October 24 Mother-in-Law's Day 4th Sunday in October Halloween October 31 Refonnation Day October 31 (Prot´rtant) All Saints Day November 1 Electiom Day 1st Tuesday In November Veterans'Day November 11 Sadie Hawkin Day 1st Saturday after November 11 Thankgiving Day 4th Thurday in November Immaculate Conception December 8 Bill of Rights Day December 15 Wright Brothers Day December 17 Christmas Eve December 24 (In SOm´ date¥ Christmas Day December 25 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- One Year 365.24219878 Days (Give or Take) Egyptians called it 365 and left it at that Romans wised up and added the leap day every four years 365.25 day Julian year. Much better, 1582 Pope Gregory XIII included the correction that's still in use today. If the year is divisible by 100, it's not a leap year UNLESS it is also divisible by 400. Egyptian Formula: 365 Year length: 365 Error: 0.24219878 Years to get 6 months out of whack: 754 Julian Formula: 365 + 1/4 Year length: 365.25 Error: 0.0078122 Years to get 6 months out of whack: 23,377 Gregorian Formula: 365 + 1/4 - 1/100 + 1/400 Year length: 365.2425 Error: 0.00030122 Years to get 6 months out of whack: 606,272 Modern? Formula: 365 + 1/4 - 1/100 + 1/400 - 1/4000 Year length: 365.24225 Error: 0.00005122 Years to get 6 months out of whack: 3,565,426 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- earliest sundial an Egyptian shadow clock of green schist dating at least from the 8th century BC. Babylonians seem to be the ones who started the 6 fetish, but it is not clear why. 60 is also a base number in the Babylonian math system. Egyptians once used a calendar that had twelve 30-day months, giving them 360 days. This is believed to be the reason why we now divide circles into 360 degrees. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AM and PM abbreviations stand for ante meridiem, and post meridiem, after midday, Romans formally divided their day into only two parts: A.M. and P.M. since lawyers had to appear in the courts before noon." A day 86,400 seconds, second officially defined as 9,192,631,770 oscillations of a Cesium-133 atom in an atomic clock. continental US Eastern, Central, Mountain and Pacific. noon in he Eastern time zone i 11 AM in the Central time zone, 10 AM in the Mountain time zone and 9 AM in the Pacific time zone. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Prime Meridian England's Greenwich Observatory. Greenwich Meridian GMT Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) or Universal Time. Eastern time zone United States GMT minus 5 hours. IDL International Date Line (IDL) located on opposite side of the planet from Greenwich Observatory. A bunch of astronomers declared the Greenwich Observatory to be the prime meridian at 1884conference ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Daylight-Saving Time During WWI many countries started to conserve fuel by lowering need for artificial light. by an act of Congress, daylight-saving time starts on the first Sunday in April and ends on the last Sunday in October. spring forward, fall back some states ignore it don't have daylight-saving time. Years fairly straightforward. seasons repeat on a yearly basis essential to life if you are planting crops or trying to prepare for winter. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- moon cycle lasts approximately 29 and 1/2 days (29.530588 days is the exact number) easy for almost anyone to track the moon's cycle ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Romans started with a 10 month calendar in 738 BC, borrowing from the Greeks. original Roman calendar were Martius, Aprilis, Maius, Junius, Quintilis, Sextilis, September, October, November and December. Quintilis-> December => Roman names 5-> 10. months Janarius and Februarius were later added to the end of the year to account for the 60 spare days. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 46 BC, Julius Caesar changed the calendar. Ignoring the moon but keeping the existing 12 month names, Later he decided to make January the first month instead of Martius, After Julius's Romans renamed Quintilis July. Sextilis was renamed to honor Augustus, hence August. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- weeks come straight out of the Bible: "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt though labor, and do all thy work but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God." [Exodus 20:8] Romans days of week based on sun, moon five planets known Sun Moon Mars Mercury Jupiter Venus Saturn four names English were replaced with Anglo-Saxon gods Tuesday = Tiu,/Tiw,Anglo-Saxon name of Tyr,Norse god war. Wednesday = Odin, or Woden, supreme deity, Tyr a sons of Thursday from Thor's-day, god of thunder. Friday from Frigg's-day, Frigg, wife Odin,love+ beauty Week Days seven-day based on ancient astrological notion 7 celestial bodies influence what happens on Earth each celestial bodies controls first hour of day named after it. system brought into Hellenistic Egypt from Mesopotamia, where astrology had been practiced for millennia and where seven had always been a propitious number. A.D. 321 the Emperor Constantine the Great grafted system onto Roman calendar, made first day of week a day of rest and worship for all was adopted with modifications throughout Europe: four of Roman gods converted into Germanic gods: Celestial Germanic modern modern Body Latin god English Italian ------- -------- -------- --------- ---------- Sun Solis Sunday domenica Moon Lunae Monday lunedì Mars Martis Tiu Tuesday martedì Mercury Mercurii Woden Wednesday mercoledì Jupiter Jovis Thor Thursday giovedì Venus Veneris Freya Friday venerdì Saturn Saturni Saturday sabato Japanese words for days of the week also correspond indirectly to the same planets. Romans names to the days of the week based on the sun, moon and names of the 5 planets known to the Romans: Sun Moon Mars Mercury Jupiter Venus Saturn English Sunday, Monday and Saturday made it straight through other four names in English were replaced with names from Anglo-Saxon gods. Tuesday from Tiu, or Tiw, the Anglo-Saxon name for Tyr, the Norse god of war. Tyr was one of the sons of Odin, Wednesday or Woden, the supreme deity whom Wednesday was named Thursday originates from Thor's-day, named in honour of Thor, the god of thunder. Friday was derived from Frigg's-day, Frigg, the wife of Odin, representing love and beauty, in Norse mythology." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BC and AD BC (before Christ) AD (anno domini, or "in the year of our lord"). There is no "zero" year - the year Christ was born is 1 AD and the year preceding it is 1 BC. Jesus was most likely born in 6 BC. He likely lived until 30 AD. Easter Day first Sunday after the full moon after the 21st day of March; and if the full moon happens upon a Sunday, Easter Day is the Sunday after." March 21 is the vernal equinox - The traditional Jewish calendar is based of moon phases, ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BIRTHSTONES Month BIRTHSTONES Significance January Gamet Constancy February Amethyst Sincerity March Jasper, bloodstone aquamarine Wisdom April Diamond Innocence May Emerald, chlysoprafe Love June Pearl, moonstone alexandrite Wealth July Ruby, camelian Freedom August Sardonyx,peridoi Friendship Sapphire, lapis lazuli Truth October Opal, tourmaline Hope November Topaz Loyalty December Turquoise, rircon, lapis lazuli Success ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FLOWER Month FLOWER January Carnation February Violet March Jonquil Apn SweetPea May Lily of the Valley June Rose July Larkspur August Gladiola September Aster Odo¥ Calendula November Chrysanthemum Decsmbar Narcissus ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ANNIVERSARY Year Traditional Modern 1 paper clocks 2 cotton, straw, calico china 3 leather crystal or glass 4 flowers, fruit, books appliances 5 wood silverware 6 iron or sugar(sweets) wood 7 copper, wool, brass desk sets 8 bronze, rubber linens & laces 9 pottery leather 10 tin or aluminum diamond jewelry 11 steel fashion jewelry 12 silk or fine linen pearls 13 lace textiles or turs 14 ivory or agate gold jewelry 15 crystal, glass watches 20 china platinum 25 silver silver 30 pearl diamond 35 coral jade 40 ruby or garnet ruby 45 sapphire sapphire 50 gold gold 55 emerald, turquoise emerald 60 diamond diamond 75 diamond diamond ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Christmas Cristes maesse, or "Christ's Mass". Most historians peg the first celebration of Christmas to Rome in 336 AD. Christmas was largely a non-event in America until the 1860's. 1867 the first year that Macy's remained open until midnight on Christmas Eve. 1874 was the year of the first window displays with a Christmas theme at Macy's. It has snowballed from there. presents on Christmas day? no one was really in the habit of exchanging elaborate gifts until late in the 1800's. The Santa Claus story (described below) combined with an amazing retailing phenomena has grown since the turn of the century made gift giving a central focus of Christmas tradition. Christian leaders in 336 AD set the date to December 25th in an attempt to eclipse a popular pagan holiday in Rome (Saturnalia) celebrating the winter solstice. evergreen tree German tradition, started as early as 700AD. In 1800'stradition of a Christmas Tree was widespread in Germany, then moved to England then America through Pennsylvanian German immigrants. Mistletoe used as a decoration in houses for thousands of years is also associated with many pagan rituals. the church forbade the use of mistletoe in any form, As a substitute, it suggested holly. The sharply pointed leaves were to symbolize the thorns in Christ's crown and the red berries drops of his blood. Scandinavians, the goddess of love (Frigga) is strongly associated with mistletoe. This link to romance may be where our tradition of kissing under mistletoe comes from yule log, in olden days was a huge log used as the foundation of the holiday fires. Bringing the yule log in was, as recently as the nineteenth century, Yule traced back to the Middle English Yollen (cry aloud) thought to date from early Anglo-Saxon revels in celebration of the discovery (after the Winter Solstice, December 22) that nights were becoming shorter." Up until the 19th century, the custom of burning the Yule Log flourished in England, 12 days Chistmas the 12 days that separate Christmas day on December 25 from Epiphany,on January 6. there was a tradition of giving gifts throughout 12 days That tradition, never really caught on in America! Christmas carolers Middle Ages in England and France, carols were dances accompanied by singing. I carol"a kind of round dance. Anglo-Saxon tradition favoured small choirs on village green to sing carols and Christmas songs for the pleasure of passers-by. Christmas eve, 1867 was first year that Macy's remained open until midnight on Christmas Eve. Saint Nicholas, minor saint from the 4th century: born inancient Lycian seaport city of Patara, when young, he traveled to Palestine and Egypt. became bishop of Myra soon after returning to Lycia. imprisoned during Roman emperor Diocletian's was released under Emperor Constantine attended the first Council (325) of Nicaea. buried in his church at Myra, 1087 Italian sailors or merchants stole his alleged and took them to Bari, Italy; greatly increased the saint's popularity in Europe, Nicholas' relics remain enshrined in the 11th-century basilica of San Nicola, Bari. Nicholas' reputation for generosity and kindness gave rise to legends of miracles he performed for the poor and unhappy. was reputed to given marriage dowries of gold to three girls whom poverty would have forced into prostitution, and restored to life three children chopped up by a butcher and put in a brine tub. became the patron saint of Russia and Greece; of charitable fraternities and guilds; of children, sailors, unmarried girls, merchants, and pawnbrokers; Nicholas' miracles favourite subject for medieval artists and plays, After the Reformation, Nicholas' cult disappeared all Protestant countries except Holland, where his legend persisted as Sinterklaas (a Dutch variant of the name Saint Nicholas). (Dutch colonists took s tradition to New Amsterdam (Sinterklaas was adopted under the name Santa Claus, (his legend of a kindly old man (was united with old Nordic folktales of a magician (who punished naughty children (and rewarded good children with presents." Santa sleigh, reindeer and the chimney, all came largely from two publishing events that occurred in the 1800's Clement Moore wrote "The Night Before Christmas" in 1822 for his family. was picked up by newspaper, it spread like wildfire. Moore admitted authorship in 1838. in the poem he names the reindeer, invents the sleigh, comes up with the chimney and the bag of toys Harper's Weekly 1863 and 1886, (a popular magazine of the time) ran a series of engravings by Thomas Nast. From these come f Santa's workshop,Santa reading letters Santa checking his list and so on. Coca-cola also running a set of paintings by Haddon Sundblom in its ads between 1931 to 1964. red and white suit the colors of the traditional bishop's robes original Saint Nicholas. Rudolf appeared, out of nowhere, in 1939. Santas at Montgomery Ward stores gave away 2.4 million copies of booklet entitled "Rudolf the Red-Nose Reindeer." story written by Robert May in advertising department andillustrated by Denver Gillen. original name was Rollo, name Rudolf came from the author's young daughter! Gene Autry 1949 sang a musical version of the poem was a run-away best-seller. second only to "White Christmas" in popularity. Christ in Greek is Xristos. use of shortened form Xmas became popular in Europe in the 1500's. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- age millions of years (Ma), shows beginning of strata. Eon Era Period Series Stage Age, Ma Phanerozoic Quaternary Holocene Flandrian 10,000years . . Pleistocene Devensian . . . Ipswichian . . . Wolstonian . . . Hoxnian . . . Anglian . . . Cromerian . . . Beestonian . . . Pastonian . . . Baventian . . . Antian . . . Thurnian . . . Ludhamian . . Waltonian 1.64 Cenozoic . . . Tertiary Neogene Pliocene Plicenzian 3.40 . . . Zanclian 5.20 . . Miocene Messinian 6.70 . . . Tortonian 10.4 . . . Serravallian 14.2 . . . Langhian 16.3 . . . Burdigalian 21.5 . . . Aquitanian 23.3 . Palaeogene Oligocene Chattian 29.3 . . . Rupelian 35.4 . . Eocene Priabonian 38.6 . . . Bartonian 42.1 . . . Lutetian 50.0 . . . Ypresian 56.5 . . Palaeocene Thanetian 60.5 . . . Danjan 65.0 Mesozoic Cretaceous Upper Maastrichtian 74.0 . . . Senonian, Campanian 83.0 . . . Senonian, Santonian 87.0 . . . Senonian, Coniacian 89.0 . . . Turonian 90.0 . . . Cenomanian 97.0 . . Lower Albian 112 . . . Aptian 125 . . . Barremian 132 . . . Hauterivian 135 . . . Valanginian 141 . . . Ryazanian 146 . Jurassic Upper (Malm). Portlandian 152 . . . Kimmeridgian 155 . . . Oxfordian 157 . . . Callovian 161 . . Middle (Dogger) Bathonian 166 . . . Bajocian 174 . . . Aalenian 178 . . Lower (Lias). Toarcian 187 . . . Pliensbachian 194 . . . Sinemurian 204 . . . Hettangian 208 . Triassic Upper Rhaetiann 210 . . . . 235 . . Middle . 241 . . Lower . 245 Palaeozoi Permian Zechstein . 256 . . Rotliegendes . 290 . Carboniferous . . . Pennsylvanian . . . Silesian Stephanian . . . Westphalian . 318 . . Namurian . 333 . Carboniferous . . . Mississippian . . . Dinantian VisŽan 350 . . Tournaisian . 362 . Devonian Upper Famerinian 367 . . Frasnian 377 . . Middle Givetian 381 . . Eifelian 386 . . Lower Emsian 390 . . Siegenian 398 . . Gedinnian 408 . Silurian Ludlow . 424 . . Wenlock . 430 . . Llandovery . 439 . Ordovician Ashgill . 443 . . Caradoc . 464 . . Llandeilo . 469 . . Llanvirn . 476 . . Arenig . 493 . . Tremadoc . 510 . Cambrian Upper . 517 . . Middle . 536 . . Lower . 570 Precambrian Proterozoic . 2500 Archaean. . 4600.. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 20-Mar Spring Equinnox first Sun April Daylight saving 20-Jun Summer Solstice 22-Sep Autumn Equinnox Last Sun Oct Daylight saving 21-Dec Winter Solstice SIGNS ZODIAC Name Symbol Dates Aries Ram March 21-April 19 Taurus Bull April 20-May 20 Gemini Twins May 21-June 20 Cancer Crab June 21-July 22 Leo Lion July 23-Aug 22 Virgo Virgin Aug 23-Sept 22 Libra Balance Sept 23-Oct 22 Scorpio Scropion 0ct 23-Nov 21 Sagittarius Archer Nov 22-Dec 21 Capricorn Goat Dec 22-Jan 19 Aquaruis WaterBearer Jan 20-Feb 18 Pisces Fish Feb 19- March 20 FLOWERS MONTH Month FLOWER January Carnation February Violet March Jonquil Apn SweetPea May Lily of the Valley June Rose July Larkspur August Gladiola September Aster Odo¥ Calendula November Chrysanthemum Decsmbar Narcissus BIRTHSTONES stone Month Stone Significance January Gamet Constancy February Amethyst Sincerity March Jasper, bloodstone aquamarine Wisdom April Diamond Innocence May Emerald, chlysoprafe Love June Pearl, moonstone alexandrite Wealth July Ruby, camelian Freedom August Sardonyx,peridoi Friendship Sapphire, lapis lazuli Truth October Opal, tourmaline Hope November Topaz Loyalty December Turquoise, rircon, lapis lazuli Success ANNIVERSARY NAMES Year Traditional Modern 1 paper clocks 2 cotton, straw, calico china 3 leather crystal or glass 4 flowers, fruit, books appliances 5 wood silverware 6 iron or sugar(sweets) wood 7 copper, wool, brass desk sets 8 bronze, rubber linens & laces 9 pottery leather 10 tin or aluminum diamond jewelry 11 steel fashion jewelry 12 silk or fine linen pearls 13 lace textiles or turs 14 ivory or agate gold jewelry 15 crystal, glass watches 20 china platinum 25 silver silver 30 pearl diamond 35 coral jade 40 ruby or garnet ruby 45 sapphire sapphire 50 gold gold 55 emerald, turquoise emerald 60 diamond diamond 75 diamond diamond HOLIDAYS Date (listed in chronological order) NewYears Day January 1 Epiphany Sunday on or bcfora January 8 Marlin Luther King Da 3rd Monday January or January 15 Robert E. Lee Day January 18 NalionalFreedom Day February 1 Groundhog Day February 2 Lincoln's Birthday February 12 Presidentr Day 3rd Monday February Valentine's Day February 14 Susan B. Anthony Day February 15 Ash Wednesday 47 days before Easter St Patrick's Day March 17 St. Joseph's Day March 19 Juarez' Birthday March 21 (Mexico) Palm Sunday Sunday before Easter Maundy Thunday Thusrday before Easter Good Friday Friday before Easter Easter lst Sunday after ist full moon after the Spring equinox. Pan American Day April 14 SecretariesDay 4th Wednesday in April Arbot Day Last Friday in April Loyalty Day May 1 Cincoda Mayo May5(Mexico) Ascension 40 days after Easter Pentecost 50 days after Easter Mother's Day 2nd Sunday in May Armed Forces Day 3rd Saturday in May National Maritime Day May 22 Victoria Day 1st Monday before May 25 Memorial Day Last Monday in May Flag Day Junel4 Father's Day 3rd Sunday in June Independence Day(US) July 4 AJsumption Day August 15 Labor Day 1st Monday in September Grandparent's Day 1st Sunday after Labor Day Citizenship Day September 17 Child Health Day 1st Monday in October Columbus Day 2nd Monday in October World Poetry Day October 15 Boss Day October 16 United Nations Day October 24 Mother-in-Law's Day 4th Sunday in October Halloween October 31 Refonnation Day October 31 (Prot´rtant) All Saints Day November 1 Electiom Day 1st Tuesday In November Veterans'Day November 11 Sadie Hawkin Day 1st Saturday after November 11 Thankgiving Day 4th Thurday in November Immaculate Conception December 8 Bill of Rights Day December 15 Wright Brothers Day December 17 Christmas Eve December 24 (In SOm´ date¥ Christmas Day December 25