Almanac

There are four easily recognizable time periods in our usual calendar: day, week, month and year. And they all have their origins tied to Astronomy. But what about the week?

That is something we learn early on: seasons are switched between the hemispheres. When summer hits the South, it’s winter in the North. And vice-versa. Now tell me quickly: when does Spring 2016 start?

A very unusual sequence of holidays here in Rio, and the apparent warm welcome to my previous post on April Fool’s have prompted me to write about holidays.

Even though the beginning of the year was transferred to January 1st, the beginning of the religious year, for the Catholic Church, remained in March 25th. And that is related to the origin of so called Fool’s Day.