Gregorian Calendar Debuts: Pope Fixes the Year
October 15, 1582, was the first day of the Gregorian calendar in countries that adopted it immediately: Spain, Portugal, the Papal States, and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The previous day had been October 4. Pope Gregory XIII ordered the deletion of ten days to correct the Julian calendar's drift of one day every 128 years. Easter had been arriving earlier each century, which was unacceptable to a church that based its entire liturgical calendar on the spring equinox. Protestant countries refused to follow a papal decree on principle. Britain and its colonies didn't switch until 1752, by which time the gap had grown to 11 days. Benjamin Franklin cheerfully noted 'nothing is offered to us in exchange except the satisfaction of sleeping a little longer.' Russia waited until 1918. Greece held out until 1923.
October 15, 1582
444 years ago
Key Figures & Places
What Else Happened on October 15
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