Shortest Day!

[randykshlerin]

Just think; if the shortest day of the year were also the first day of the new year; we wouldn't have to adjust calendars every 4 years! Not that I really care!

[rstevenson]

We don’t adjust our calendars by one day every four years because the shortest day of the year is not named January 1. We adjust the calendar because the Earth takes 365.24 days to go around the Sun once, and for convenience we don’t try to do something with that extra quarter day every year (which would make a real mess of our clocks), instead we bank the quarter days until we can use a whole day. But as you’ve no doubt noticed, it’s not quite a quarter day, it’s 0.24 of a day, which is why we skip one leap year every century.

Rob

[orin stepanek]

We don’t adjust our calendars by one day every four years because the shortest day of the year is not named January 1. We adjust the calendar because the Earth takes 365.24 days to go around the Sun once, and for convenience we don’t try to do something with that extra quarter day every year (which would make a real mess of our clocks), instead we bank the quarter days until we can use a whole day. But as you’ve no doubt noticed, it’s not quite a quarter day, it’s 0.24 of a day, which is why we skip one leap year every century.

Rob

True, Rob; but if you started the year on the shortest day; you could just add a day evert 4th year! So Dec 21 or 22 would be Jan 1! Trouble is there would be a lot of confusion with the changes you would have to make changing the calendars for everyone! JMO 🗓