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Simple English definitions for legal terms
Gregorian calendar
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A quick definition of Gregorian calendar:
The Gregorian calendar is a way of measuring time that was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582. It is the modern system that we use today to keep track of days, weeks, months, and years. The calendar was created because the old way of measuring time, called the Julian calendar, was slightly off and needed to be fixed. Pope Gregory made some changes to the calendar, like skipping leap years in certain years, to make it more accurate. We still use the Gregorian calendar today to know what day it is and when important events happen.
A more thorough explanation:
The Gregorian calendar is a modern system for ordering time. It was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582 and adopted in England and the American colonies in 1752. The calendar is also known as the new style calendar.
The Julian calendar, which was used before the Gregorian calendar, was slightly longer than the astronomical year. This caused the vernal equinox to be displaced by ten days. To fix this, Pope Gregory reformed the calendar by announcing that October 5, 1582 would be called October 15. He also made changes to the leap year system. Leap years occur every four years, except for years divisible by 100 (such as 1800 and 1900), but they do occur for years divisible by 400 (such as 2000).
For example, the year 2000 was a leap year because it is divisible by 400. However, the year 2100 will not be a leap year because it is not divisible by 400.
The Gregorian calendar is the most widely used calendar in the world today. It is used by most countries for civil purposes, such as determining public holidays and scheduling appointments.