It is high time that the Western World's present Calendar be replaced by a new and rational calendar, which could be used world-wide. At present the months are of unequal lengths, 31, 30, 28 and 29 days. The quarters vary in length, 90, 91 and 92 days and the half years are 181 and 184 days long. To say the least it is quite a silly arrangement.

Because the year consists of 365,2422 days the calendar comprises 365 days and 366 days every fourth year (leap year) excepting the last years of full centuries whose first 2 digits are not divisible by 4: 2100, 2200, 2300; but 2400 will be a leap year.

A perfectly regular calendar could be devised in which all the months are of equal length by the simple expedient of designating one day as a non-counting day. We would then have a calendar consisting of exactly 364 days. The non-counting day could be celebrated as a universal holiday, New Year's Day. In a leap year the extra non-counting day could be placed in the middle of the year, the day after day 182, the day after the 14th of Month 7.

In the proposed calendar the 364 days are very conveniently divided into 13 months of exactly 28 days each. Each month will have four weeks each of seven days. The thirteen months could be named Month 1, Month 2, up to Month 13, thus indicating each month's position in the year. By doing this we shall get rid of the silly names September, October, November, December for the 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th months, the names meaning 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th. All the months would have exactly the same calendar of 4 weeks of 7 days each, totalling 28 days, as follows:

 

The first month will have the non-counting New Year's Day (NYD) placed to the left of the first day of the first month, and every four years the non-counting leap year's day (LYD) will be placed to the right of the 14th day of Month 7:

 

 

If Monday becomes the first day of the week, the 13th will not fall on a Friday as it would if Sunday remained the first day of the week. Sunday would, more fittingly be the 7th day - the week-end - the day of rest. (See Exodus 20 : 8). Both half years would consist of 182 days and each quarter will have 91 days, i.e. 13 weeks.

When should the new calendar be introduced? The ideal day would be Sunday the 1st of January 2006. This could be celebrated as New Years's Day, a non-counting day. The next day, 2 January 2006, would be Monday the first day of the first Month of the 13 Month Year. (A year in which workers will get 13 monthly payments).

The following table shows the correspondence between the Old Gregorian Calendar and the New Rational Calendar. Any date corresponding to a date on the Gregorian Calendar can be read off from it. July 4th becomes the 16th day of Month 7, always a Tuesday. Christmas day 25 December becomes the 22nd day of Month 13, always a Monday.

 

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