April 1, 2020

Today is the first day of April, the fourth month of the year according to the Gregorian calendar, which is used in most of the world today. In the Northern Hemisphere, April is the first full month of spring. (In the Southern Hemisphere, April occurs in autumn.) Many flowers bloom in April, including the pink phlox, a type of garden plant with brilliantly colored blossoms. The profusion of blooming pink phlox gives April’s full moon its name. The “Pink Moon“—the second of three consecutive supermoons—rises on April 7. A supermoon occurs when the moon is at perigee, the point when it is nearest the Earth and thus appears slightly brighter and larger in the sky.

The full moon of April is known as the “pink moon” because of the widespread blooming of pink phlox during the month. Credit: WORLD BOOK illustration

The name April comes from the ancient Roman word for the month, Aprilis. This name might have come from a word meaning to open, or from the name of Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love (called Venus in Roman mythology). April was the second month in the early Roman calendar. However, it became the fourth month when the beginning of the year was moved from March to January. On the first of April, April Fools’ Day, people all over the world cause mischief and play tricks on each other.

Many cultures celebrate the arrival of spring, or other aspects of the natural world, in April. Walpurgis Night is a spring celebration held in Germany, Finland, and Sweden on April 30. People there welcome spring with bonfires, singing, and parties. The Japanese Cherry Blossom Festival Sakura Matsuri takes place in April. In the Netherlands, flower parades are held toward the end of April, when the tulips are blooming. Many people plant trees on Arbor Day, which occurs on different dates in different countries. Many nations celebrate Earth Day on April 22. This holiday was organized in 1970 to raise awareness of the environment. The Angolan Feast of Nganja, a celebration of the corn harvest, always occurs in April.

Some cultures welcome the New Year in this month. Nava Varsha, the Nepalese New Year, falls on or near April 13. Several countries in Southeast Asia, including Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand, also celebrate the New Year at this time. In Thailand, the holiday is called Songkran.

Chakri Day, April 6, marks the date in 1782 when King Rama I took control of the government of Siam (now Thailand). Matatirtha Aunsi, Nepalese Mothers’ Day, also falls in April. The Christian celebration of Easter often occurs in this month, as does the Jewish festival of Pesah, also known as Passover.

January 24, 2020

Tomorrow, January 25, is the Chinese New Year, the most important festival of the Chinese calendar. On this holiday, people visit relatives, neighbors, and friends. Dances featuring colorful dragon and lion costumes are often performed on this day. In Chinese communities in the United States and Canada, the holiday is marked by boisterous parades and other festivities. The Chinese New Year also ushers in a new animal sign of the Chinese zodiac (also called the Eastern or East Asian zodiac). In 2020, the 12-year cycle restarts with the first animal on the list, the rat.

The Chinese zodiac rotates through a 12-year cycle. In 2020, the Chinese New Year begins the year of the rat. Credit: © Anatoly Pareev, Shutterstock

The Chinese zodiac is a cycle of 12 animal signs used in a system of astrology practiced in China, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and other Asian countries. This system assigns an animal sign to represent each lunar year. A lunar year is a year measured by tracking phases of the moon, rather than changes in the sun’s position in the sky. Each animal sign represents an entire year, and the cycle repeats every 12 years. The 12 animal signs are, in order, the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit (or hare), dragon, snake, horse, goat (or sheep), monkey, rooster, dog, and pig (or boar).

Chinese New Year celebrations in many communities include a dragon dance, like the one shown in this photograph. A team of performers carries an elaborate dragon puppet made of bamboo, paper, and silk, parading the colorful beast through the streets in an festive dance. The dragon symbolizes good luck, and the dance invites success in the coming year. Credit © Shutterstock

Rats are often considered a threat or a nuisance, but in the Chinese zodiac they are associated with wisdom, wealth, and surplus. People born in the year of the rat are often intelligent, quick-witted, and charming—but they can also be devious and greedy.

The Chinese zodiac is deeply rooted in classical Chinese philosophy, religious beliefs, and mythology. A popular folk tale explains how the 12 animals of the zodiac came to represent various aspects of human personality and compatibility. The tale describes a race to cross a river. The race was organized by the Jade Emperor, the highest ranking deity (god) in traditional Chinese folk religion. In some variations of the tale, the Buddha organized the race. The first 12 animals to reach the finish would become symbols of the zodiac.

Many different animals lined up at the riverbank to take part in the race. The rat and cat could not swim, so they asked the ox to carry them across. As they were crossing the river, the rat pushed the cat into the river. The rat then jumped off and was the first to cross. For this reason, the rat is the first sign of the zodiac, and the ox is second. This part of the story also explains why there is no cat in the zodiac.

Shortly after, the tiger made it across the river, taking the third position. The rabbit sat on a log and floated across to finish fourth. The dragon helped by blowing the rabbit across the river. The Jade Emperor was surprised that the dragon finished fifth, since this creature could fly. The dragon explained that it had to stop to make rain for villages in need of water. The horse came next, but a snake that had coiled around the horse’s hoof jumped ahead. The surprised horse took a step back and finished seventh.

A raft appeared next, carrying the rooster, monkey, and goat. The rooster had found the raft, and the goat and monkey had cleared the weeds and pushed the raft to the opposite side. The Jade Emperor was pleased with their teamwork, and declared the goat the eighth in the zodiac, the monkey ninth, and the rooster tenth. The next animal to finish was the dog, which surprised the emperor because that animal was the best swimmer. The dog explained that he had been playing in the water and lost track of time. The last animal to cross was the boar, who had stopped to eat and then fallen asleep.

September 12, 2018

High in the Atacama Desert of Chile, a system of stone pillars and rock piles called saywas was recently found to be an ancient Inca calendar. Once thought only to mark a local Inca trail, a team of archaeologists, astronomers, historians, and researchers recently showed how the saywas work as a complicated and connected calendar to identify and predict equinoxes, solstices, and other astronomical events. The Inca trail in the Atacama Desert is part of the Qhapaq Ñan, an extensive Inca road network that stretches from southern Colombia to central Chile.

The sun peeks over the Andes Mountains at dawn, illuminating a line of ancient Inca saywas in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. Credit: A. Silber, ALMA/ESO/NAOJ/NRAO

Working at 13,800 feet (4,200 meters) above sea level in the desert mountains near Taltal, a small city in northern Chile, the scientific team began visiting the saywas and taking measurements in 2017. The team included local indigenous people as well as experts from the Chilean Museum of Pre-Colombian Art, the nearby Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) observatory, and the European Southern Observatory. The research was funded by BHP/Minera Escondida, a mining company with more material interests in the desert.

The scientific team began the study by documenting alignments between certain saywas and the sunrises on the March equinox and June solstice. They then began connecting saywa points with other important dates on the ancient Inca calendar. Operating much in the same way as Stonehenge in England, the saywas align with sunrises on certain dates, while also projecting shadows on the ground that lead to other stone points. The researchers also found that certain saywas align with constellations at night, further strengthening the researchers’ conclusion, published in 2018, that the network of stones served as a large calendar for Inca astronomers.

The first written accounts of the saywas were recorded during the Spanish conquest of Andean  South America in the 1500′s and 1600′s. The saywas’ remote locations in the empty desert, far from Inca cities, led the Spanish to believe that the stone piles were little more than pathway markers to help guide people through the vast, barren desert. The saywas did in fact aid in navigation, but the larger purpose of the stone markers remained unknown for centuries. In recent years, however, knowledge of the Inca has greatly expanded, and the study of ancient Quechua and Aymara (Inca languages) dictionaries led to the examination of the relationship between the saywas and the Inca astronomical system.

The ancient Inca capital of Cusco (in modern-day Peru) was surrounded by columns used to measure time, create calendars, and predict equinoxes and solstices as well as the planting and harvesting seasons. The remote saywas, however, were tucked away in the Atacama Desert. Perhaps that was merely the best view of the heavens, allowing Inca astronomers to get the most accurate measurements while Cusco was obscured by clouds and mist. Modern astronomers use the high desert for the same purpose. The sprawling ALMA observatory is only a (figurative) stone’s throw away.

February 29, 2016

February 29 is a day that does not exist in most years. The year 2016 is a leap year, a phenomenon that occurs once every four years. Most years have 365 days. Leap years have 366. The extra day is added to the end of the shortest month, February.

February 29 occurs once every four years, on leap years. Credit: © Shutterstock

A year is the amount of time it takes Earth to orbit (circle around) the sun. We use leap years because Earth does not take exactly 365 days to complete one orbit. A real year is a bit longer—about 365 days, 5 hours, 48, minutes, and 46 seconds, to be precise. Every four years, those extra 5 hours and 48 minutes add up to about an extra day. Over many decades and centuries, those extra days can throw off a calendar if the years all have just 365 days. Leap years help reset the clock, ensuring that the months correspond to the same seasons year after year.

However, leap years do not solve all of the calendar’s problems. An extra day every four years would bring the calendar into balance if Earth took exactly 365 days and 6 hours to orbit the sun. But in fact, the planet takes about 12 minutes less than that. To prevent those missing 12 minutes from adding up and throwing off the calendar, leap years are not celebrated in century years—that is, years ending in “00″—with the exception those divisible by 400. The years 2100, 2200, and 2300 will not be leap years. But the year 2000 was a leap year, and the year 2400 will be one as well.

Other World Book articles

• Gregorian calendar

December 31, 2012

A cycle in the calendar used by most of the world ends today at midnight–but, happily, a new cycle will begin again immediately afterward as the date moves forward to 2013. In the United States, the slow descent of the Times Square New Year’s Eve Ball in New York City will mark the final seconds of the year, as the ball has every year since 1907. Crowds will gather on State Street in Chicago and in other public places as well. Many people will go to New Year’s Eve parties. At midnight, bells will ring, sirens will sound, firecrackers will explode, and everyone will shout, “Happy New Year!” Many people will also drink a toast to the new year and sing “Auld Lang Syne,” a Scottish song whose title is widely mispronounced and whose meaning is generally unknown. (It is pronounced AWLD lang SYN, not OLD ang ZINE, and means old long since, or days gone by, in Scottish dialect.)

On New Year’s Day, many people in the United States will visit relatives, attend religious services, or watch football games on television. Some people will attend parades, such as the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California, and the Mummers Parade in Philadelphia.

The Mummers Parade features marching bands in elaborate and colorful costumes. This festive event in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is held annually on New Year's Day. © Joseph Nettis, Photo Researchers

The ancient Romans were the first to use January 1 as the start of the new year. In 46 B.C., Julius Caesar ordered the adoption of a new calendar because the Roman year had gotten totally out of whack. Winter occurred in September, and autumn came in the month now called July. The Romans had usually celebrated March 1 as the first day of the new year. But Caesar, who had recently picked up a 10-year appointment as dictator of Rome, officially ordered the date moved to January 1 in 45 B.C., as part of the changes mandated by the new Julian calendar.

During the Middle Ages, from about the A.D. 400′s through the 1400′s, most European countries started the new year on March 25, a Christian holiday called Annunciation Day. By 1600, many Western nations had adopted a revised calendar called the Gregorian calendar. This calendar, the one used today, restored January 1 as New Year’s Day. Great Britain (now also called the United Kingdom) and its colonies in America adopted it in 1752.

Additional World Book articles:

• Chinese New Year
• Islam (Holidays and celebrations)
• January
• Rosh Ha-Shanah

December 21, 2012

If you are reading this, then you know that the world has not ended on December 21, as many people thought the ancient Maya had predicted (though they hadn’t). What happened?

The Maya developed a magnificent civilization in Central America and southern Mexico that flourish between about A.D. 250 and 900. They produced remarkable architecture, painting, pottery, and sculpture. The Maya also made great advances in astronomy and mathematics and developed several calendars, including a complex and accurate yearly calendar. Another of the Maya calendars, called the Long Count calendar, was based on a 5,128-year cycle. Many scholars have calculated that the Mayan Long Count cycle was scheduled to end on December 21, 2012, on the Gregorian calendar that we use today.

A Mayan mural depicts a scene at the royal court at Bonampak, where the King (center) is presented with prisoners captured in battle. Defeated rulers and other important prisoners of war were sacrificed to the gods in religious ceremonies. This restored mural was painted toward the end of the Classic Period, around 790 A.D., as rival cities in the Mayan civilization began to fight each other. (© Della Zuana Pascal, Sygma/Corbis)

Some people came to believe that the Mayan Long Count calendar forecast the end of all time. Reports that the end of the world was coming on December 21 spread quickly in newspapers, magazines, and television shows, and flourished on the Internet. Theories about the cause of the apocalypse varied. Some stated that Earth would collide with a rogue planet or asteroid. Others suggested the Earth’s magnetic poles would flip or solar flares would engulf the planet.

Most experts viewed such predictions as nonsense. But people in some areas began to prepare for the worst. Panic buying was reported in Russia, China, and France, as people stocked up on food, candles, and other necessities before the dreaded date. Officials predicted a surge of visitors to Mexico and Central America, with tourists flocking to Maya sites for the fateful day.

Archaeologists who study the ancient Maya noted that no predictions of the end of the world exist in Maya writings or inscriptions. They also pointed out that the end of the Long Count calendar on December 21, 2012, simply marks the beginning of a new calendar cycle.

In response to public anxiety and numerous questions, NASA scientists tried to explain online and during a press conference that Maya-related end-of-the-world predictions were not based on reality. “The world will not end in 2012,” the website stated. “Our planet has been getting along just fine for more than 4 billion years, and credible scientists worldwide know of no threat associated with 2012.” As one NASA scientist said, “Just as the calendar you have on your kitchen wall does not cease to exist after December 31, the Mayan calendar does not cease to exist on December 21, 2012. This date is the end of the Mayan long-count period but then–just as your calendar begins again on January 1–another long-count period begins for the Mayan calendar.” In fact, NASA was so confident the world would not end that it prepared and released beforehand a video that explains to bewildered believers why they are still here.

Additional articles in World Book:

• Chichén Itzá
• Stephens, John Lloyd
• Tikal
  
• The Ancient Maya: Deciphering New Clues (a special report)
• Latin America (1929) (a Back in Time article)

Dec. 30, 2011

Samoa is going back to the future this weekend, as it fast-forwards from Thursday, December 29, to Saturday, December 31, without pausing for Friday, December 30. The country’s time traveling comes 119 years after it rewound the calendar by celebrating July 4, 1892, twice. Samoa, one of a number of independent nations of the Pacific Islands, will now be the first country to ring in the new year, instead of the last.

Until midnight on Dec. 29, 2011, Samoa was located on the eastern side of the international date line. This imaginary line, which generally follows the 180th meridian, marks the spot on Earth’s surface where each new calendar day begins. The date just to the west of the international date line is one day later than the date just to the east of the line. The line veers from the 180th meridian in some places to keep countries, such as Kiribati, or islands, such as Fiji, in the same time zone. No international body is responsible for determining a country’s time zone, so Samoa was free to switch.

The international date line runs down the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It follows the 180th meridian most of the way, but zigzags in several places to avoid having two different calendar dates on the same day in a country. Samoa is located just to the northeast of Fiji. World Book map

Samoan officials said the move was made chiefly to link the island nation more closely to Australia, New Zealand, and other major trading partners in the Asia-Pacific region. Commerce was the chief reason Samoa switched time zones in 1892, moving from west to east of the international date line so it would be on the same side as the United States. Samoa made that change on July 4, marking America’s Independence Day twice in honor of the United States. Modern Samoan officials also cited family life as a reason for the latest move. Many native Samoans live in Australia and New Zealand.

Additional World Book articles

• American Samoa
• Fleming, Sir Sandford
• Greenwich meridian
• Longitude
• Samoa Islands