Re: Number of days since 1/1/0001
Re: Number of days since 1/1/0001
- Subject: Re: Number of days since 1/1/0001
- From: John W Baxter <email@hidden>
- Date: Sun, 25 Nov 2001 10:46:36 -0800
At 18:13 -0800 11/23/2001, John W Baxter wrote:
>
at least as
>
recently as 1912 (Russia)
I believe Michelle is correct in saying 1917. Sorry.
This thread reminds me that the good people of San Diego found out in the
late 1980s that their annual celebration of the arrival of the first US
Navy vessel in San Diego Bay was being held on the "wrong" day (at least in
some sense). Why? Because they were celebrating according to the date
recorded in the ship's log, and the US Navy at the time the ship arrived
was still following the nautical method of changing the date at noon rather
than midnight, and the ship anchored around mid-afternoon.
So as viewed from shore, the ship's log said the ship anchored the next day.
Why change the date at noon? Because, until the chronometer appeared, noon
was measurable at sea and midnight was not. (Accepting local apparent
noon...maximum sun elevation...as "noon".) 24 turnings of the half-hour
sand-glass make for a less accurate measure of midnight than the sextant
work does of noon.
One more thing to look out for when dealing with dates in the records and
literature of the past.
--John (who misses the good old days...'Belay that tell application
"Finder" block!')
--
John Baxter email@hidden Port Ludlow, WA, USA