No, not my holiday, but September in Britain in 1752. History
records that nothing happened in Britain from September the 3rd to September the 13th.
The reason? Up until then Britain had used the Julian
calendar, unlike the rest of Europe which had changed to the Gregorian calendar.
This meant that when it was the first of September in London it would be the
twelfth of September in Paris, Madrid, Rome or most of mainland Europe.
Parliament decided to change to the new calendar and so Wednesday the 2nd was followed by Thursday the 14th.
Nothing happened on the 3rd to
13th. The days didn’t exist!
The response? In the short term there were protests on the streets
with crowds chanting “Give us back our eleven days.” Protestors demanded
wages for the nonexistent days. People even complained they were losing
eleven days of their lives!
Changing to come in to line with the rest of Europe (and most of
the rest of the world) was not popular. Germany and the Netherlands made
the same change a few years before us – 1698. Russia didn’t change till 1918
and it took Greece till 1923!
Changing for the sake of others is never easy whether it is for
the sake of other nations of the world, other churches within a group or other
members within a family. But ultimately that is what is needed for the sake of
community. And God built us for community.
