Does anybody really know what time it is?

Actually, a more appropriate question would be "Does anybody really know what year it is?" The obvious answer is "2011." But if you want to get technical about it, it depends on who you ask. I never knew there were so many different ways to calculate the year.


Let's start the obvious: 2011. This is the number that popped up on the television as the ball drops, and the year as calculated by the Gregorian Calendar. It was named for Pope Gregory XIII, who signed the papal bull officially adopting the system in 1582. The motivation for switching from the Julian Calendar was not purely a religious one, but rather a mathematical one. The Julian calendar calculated the length of time from one Vernal Equinox to the next as 365.25 days. In fact, that figure is about 11 minutes short. This made the date of the Vernal Equinox be 3 days off every 400 years. That adds up after awhile, and they decided that figuring out when Easter fell was already crazy enough. Hence the new calendar. We calculate our dates from the traditional date of the nativity, hence the AD and BC.


Ask an ancient Roman what year it is, and he'll tell you it's 2764 ab Urbe Condita. Romans figured their dates "ab Urbe Condita;" for all of you not subjected to years of grade school Latin, "from the founding of the city." Rome was traditionally founded in 753 BC.


In Armenia, it's 1460. They use a calendar based upon the ancient Egyptian model.


The Baha'i calendar says it's 167-168 BE. The New Year always begins at sunset on 20 March so it is in line with the Gregorian. The year has 365 days, divided into 19 months of 19 days each, plus an extra four every year (five in leap years). It was invented in 1844.


In the Bengali calendar, it's 1418. It began counting from 14 April 593 AD.


The British Regnal Year is calculated from the coronation of the current monarch. It is now 59-60 Eliz 2.


According to the Buddhist calendar, it's the year 2555. I haven't a clue as to how that is calculated. It's extremely confusing. Their epochal year is 545 BC, the traditional date ascribed to the death of Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha.


In Burma, they're still partying like it's 1373. And they really do party- each month is centered around a major festival. Their epochal year is 638 AD. They say it's based on when Buddha reached Nirvana, but that is said to have occurred a millennium before the calendar was introduced.


The Byzantine calendar is based not on the birth of Christ, but on the date of Creation. Obviously, this one is a little sketchy. Don't set your watch by it. Since Creation obviously occurred in the year 5509 BC, the year is now 7520.


If you're of the Chinese persuasion, it is the year of the Rabbit. They don't really ever use numbered years, but if they did, it would be either 4708 or 4648. This year began on February 03, and will end 22 January 2012. This calendar has been used for at least 3500 years.


I'm tired of writing about calendars for now. It takes all my brain power, and I'm trying to conserve them for tomorrow. I'll finish this soon. Meanwhile, I hope all my friends at UA have an awesome 7519-20 school year!