(Image Sources: Wikipedia.org, By Camille Flammarion - Astronomie Populaire 1879, p231 fig. 86, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3613218)
By Glenn A. Walsh
Reporting for SpaceWatchtower
Today (Thursday, 2024 February 29) marks Leap-Year Day, the day of the Solar Calendar that comes around, usually once every four years. On the Leap-Year Day in 1504, explorer Christopher Columbus' crew was saved from starvation, when an Eclipse of the Moon was used to scare native Jamaicans to resume feeding the ship-wrecked crew.
Beginning of Leap-Year Day
The need for a Leap-Year Day became very apparent even before what many today refer to as the “Common Era (C.E.)”, better known as Anno Domini or A.D. (“in the year of the Lord”), the era after the birth of Jesus Christ of the Christian Bible. The early calendars did not properly align with the seasons and the feasts and festivals of a year; festivals would slip out of sync with the seasons as reckoned by the Sun and Moon. A calendar system was needed that would more closely align with the astronomical movements of the Sun, Moon, and Earth.
A calendar with a Leap-Year Day was first proposed during the rule of Julius Caesar in 46 B.C. This calendar first took effect on 45 B.C. January 1.
This calendar was a reform of the earlier Roman Calendar, which was a Luni-Solar Calendar. By edict, the Julian Calendar became the official calendar of the Roman Empire and the predominant calendar for most of the Western World for 1,600 years, until the Pope Gregory XIII Calendar Reform of 1582.
This Julian Calendar is composed of 365 days for three years and 366 days each fourth year, the Leap-Year---without exception. This meant that the average year was 365.25 days in length, which was 11 minutes longer than the actual length of the Tropical Year, also known as the Solar Year, (determined by the Earth's revolution around the Sun): ~365.24210 days. So, the Julian Calendar gains 1 day every 129 years and 3.1 days every 400 years. Since the year 1900 and until the year 2099, February 29 in the Julian Calendar falls 13 days later than February 29 in the Gregorian Calendar.
The Julian Calendar Rule was modified by the Gregorian Calendar Reform, so that the average length of the year was reduced from 365.25 days to 365.2425 days. This corrected the Julian Calendar's calendar drift against the Solar Year, so that the Gregorian Calendar only gains 0.1 day every 400 years or 1 day every 3,300 years.
The Gregorian Calendar, now the most commonly-used civil calendar in the world, adds a day (February 29) in each year divisible by 4, except in years evenly divisible by 100 (but not by 400). This means that the years 1700, 1800, 1900, and 2100 do not have a Leap-Year Day, but the years 1600 and 2000 did have a Leap-Year Day.
Following the issuance of a Papal Bull Inter Gravissimas by Roman Catholic Church Pope Gregory XIII in October of 1582, all Catholic countries started observing the Gregorian Calendar, introduced as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian Calendar. With this change, Thursday, 1582 October 4 was immediately followed by Friday, 1582 October 15, an advance of 10 days.
According to the science advisers to Pope Gregory XIII, the calendar had acquired 10 extra Leap-Year Days since the First Council of Nicaea, which had established the rule for dating Easter Sunday in A.D. 325. Hence, 10 days needed to be skipped to restore the status quo.
This reform also included an alteration in the Lunar Cycle used by the Roman Catholic Church to calculate the date for Easter. Previously, an Astronomical New Moon Phase would occur 4 days before the calculated date.
While most Roman Catholic countries accepted the Pope's reform, Protestant and Orthodox countries did not. Great Britain and its possessions, including the American colonies and Canada, adopted the change in 1752, with no mention of Pope Gregory XIII. The Julian Calendar was simply referred as to the Old Style (O.S.) dates and the Gregorian Calendar was referred to as the New Style (N.S.) dates.
By this time, an additional Leap-Year Day had passed on the Old Style Calendar. This extra Leap-Year Day occurred during the Old Style Calendar year 1700; had the New Style Calendar been in effect in 1700, there would have been no Leap-Year Day that year. So, 11 days had to be skipped to restore the status quo for the New Style Calendar.
The Gregorian Calendar, known as the New Style Calendar, became the official calendar of the Kingdom of Great Britain, Kingdom of Ireland, and the British Empire (including the American colonies and Canada) following the enactment of the Calendar Act of 1750 by the British Parliament. Hence, Wednesday, 1752 September 2 was immediately followed by Thursday, 1752 September 14. Rumors that rioters demanded, “Give us our eleven days”, seems to have been a misinterpretation of a painting by William Hogarth.
This calendar change affected the first President of the United States. George Washington was born before the calendar change. So, his official birth date was 1731 February 11 Old Style Calendar. After the calendar change occurred, his official birth date was, from then-on, recognized as 1732 February 22 New Style Calendar. His official birth year changed from 1731 to 1732 because, by Old Style Calendar reckoning, the New Year did not begin until March 25 (Lady Day: Feast of the Annunciation). Of course, with the New Style Calendar, the New Year begins on January 1.
Eastern Orthodox countries converted to the Gregorian Calendar in 1923. Eastern Orthodox Church sects, parts of Oriental Orthodoxy, and the Amazigh / Berber peoples of North Africa retained the Julian Calendar as a Liturgical or religious calendar, particularly used for their determination of the dates for Orthodox Christmas and Orthodox Easter.
In Ireland, a tradition dating back to the 5th century allows women to propose marriage to a man on February 29, known as Bachelor's Day or Ladies' Privilege; at one time, this was also legal in Scotland and England. The tradition comes from a deal struck between Saint Bridget and Saint Patrick, as Saint Bridget complained that women had to wait too long to marry because men were slow to propose. After the deal was struck, Saint Bridget proposed marriage to Saint Patrick; Saint Patrick declined and as recompense (sometimes required by law or tradition) gave Saint Bridget a kiss on the cheek and a silk dress.
Leap-Year Day is known as an intercalary, which means a date inserted between two other dates. Interestingly, originally February 24 was Leap-Year Day during the rule of Julius Caesar; on Leap-Years they simply repeated February 24 a second day!
And, February was originally the last month of the year in the Julian Calendar. In the Chinese calendar, from time-to-time an additional month is added to better align with the seasons; this last happened in 2015.
In addition to being the 60th day of a Leap-Year (306 days remain in the Leap Year) and the last day of February for 2024, February 29 is also the last day of Meteorological Winter in Earth's Northern Hemisphere (and the last day of Meteorological Summer in the Southern Hemisphere). Unlike the calendar seasons, meteorological seasons begin at the beginning of a calendar month and end on the last day of a calendar month.
The term, Leap-Year, is derived from the Leap-Year Day's effect on the calendar. During normal years, a certain date moves one day of the week so that that particular date occurs on the next day of the week in the next year. In other words, when February 28 occurs on a Monday one year, February 28 will occur on Tuesday the following year, usually. However, in a Leap-Year, February 28 would "leap-over" Tuesday and appear on Wednesday the following year.
Leap-Year babies born on February 29 are known as Leaplings. During non-Leap-Years, Leaplings usually celebrate their birthday on February 28 (most try to keep the birthday in February) or March 1. The chance of a person on Earth being born on February 29 is 1 in 1,461.
Adherents to the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania (founded in Pittsburgh in 1881), better known as Jehovah's Witnesses, do not celebrate birthdays at all. Founder Charles Taze Russell often preached at the world's first Carnegie Hall on Pittsburgh's North Side, just across the street from where Pittsburgh's original Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science would later be built in 1939.
Lunar Eclipse Saves Columbus' Crew
Since
the time man first set sail on the seas, navigation by the stars was
a necessity. When Christopher Columbus set sail to find an ocean
route to the Far East, by sailing west, he took with him an almanac
authored by Abraham Zacuto, which included astronomical tables
originally calculated by the German astronomer Regiomontanus (whose
real name was Johannes Muller von Konigsberg).
During
Columbus' fourth and last voyage to the Americas, he lost all four
ships due to an epidemic of ship-worms eating holes in the wooden
ships. He was forced to beach the last two caravels on the northern
coast of Jamaica on 1503 June 25. At first, the natives on Jamaica
welcomed Columbus and his crew and provided them with food and other
necessities, in return for items the crew could salvage from the
ships.
After
being marooned on Jamaica for about six months, half of Columbus'
crew mutinied as well as robbing and murdering some of the natives.
As the natives had also grown weary of supplying the unexpected
castaways, Columbus and his crew faced famine.
Columbus
came-up with an ingenious plan to save his crew. In Zacuto's almanac,
Columbus noticed that a Total Eclipse of the Moon would occur on the
evening of 1504 February 29 to March 1. Three days before the
eclipse, Columbus met with the tribal Chief of the natives, telling
him that the Christian God was angry with the Jamaican people for
stopping the supply of food to Columbus and his men. Columbus told
him that God would display his displeasure by all-but obliterating
the rising Full Moon in three days. This Moon would be "inflamed
with wrath" as an omen for what was to come for the Jamaican
people.
On
the predicted day and hour, the natives watched as the Moon rose with
the lower edge missing. As the sky grew darker, they saw the Moon
take-on a bloody-red appearance.
Ferdinand,
Christopher Columbus' son, later wrote:
"The
Indians observed this [the eclipse] and were so astonished and
frightened that with great cries and lamentations they came running
from all directions to the ships, carrying provisions and begging
(...) and promising they would diligently supply all their needs in
the future."
The
natives begged Columbus to have his God restore the Moon. Columbus
went to his cabin to "confer" with his God. He actually
watched his hour-glass for the time the total phase of the eclipse
would end. Just before the end of totality, Columbus reemerged from
his cabin to announce to the natives that his God had pardoned them,
and the Moon would slowly be restored to normal later in the
night.
The
Jamaican natives kept their word, and Columbus and his crew were
well-supplied until a rescue ship from Hispaniola (today, the island
that includes the Dominican Republic and Haiti) arrived on 1504 June
29. Columbus and his crew returned to Spain on 1504 November 7.
An
interesting anecdote: When Mark Twain (the pen name for Samuel Clemens) wrote his 1889 novel, A
Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court,
he was inspired by Columbus' ploy to have his main character, Hank
Morgan who had inadvertently time-traveled to the era of King Arthur
and Merlin the Magician, saved from execution by predicting a Solar
Eclipse, and, thus, claiming power over the Sun. However, Mark Twain
never checked any almanacs while writing the novel, and no eclipse
actually occurred on the date he used in the novel: A.D. 528 June 21.
Internet Links to Additional Information ---
Solar Calendar: Link >>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_calendar
Luni-Solar Calendar: Link >>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunisolar_calendar
Julian Calendar: Link >>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_calendar
Gregorian Calendar: Link >>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregorian_calendar
Leap-Year: Link >>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leap_year
Leap-Year Day: Link >>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_29
Total Lunar Eclipse of 1504 February 29 to March 1 -
NASA - Astronomical Details:
Link >>> http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/LEhistory/LEplot/LE1504Mar01T.pdf
More Information on Total Lunar Eclipse of 1504 Feb. 29:
Space.com / Joe Rao - Link 1 >>> http://www.space.com/2729-lunar-eclipse-saved-columbus.html
Wikipedia - Link 2 >>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_1504_lunar_eclipse
More on Lunar Eclipses: >>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_eclipse
Source: Glenn A. Walsh Reporting for SpaceWatchtower, a project of Friends of the Zeiss
"Solar Calendar Leap-Year Day Eclipse in 1504 Saves Columbus' Crew"
Thursday, 2024 February 29.
Artificial Intelligence not used in the writing of this article.
© Copyright 2024 Glenn A. Walsh, All Rights Reserved
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Glenn A. Walsh, Informal Science Educator & Communicator (For more than 50 years! - Since Monday Morning, 1972 June 12):
Link >>> http://buhlplanetarium2.tripod.com/weblog/spacewatchtower/gaw/
Electronic Mail: < gawalsh@planetarium.cc >
Project Director, Friends of the Zeiss: Link >>> http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/fotz/
SpaceWatchtower Editor / Author: Link >>> http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/
Formerly Astronomical Observatory Coordinator & Planetarium Lecturer, original Buhl Planetarium & Institute of Popular Science (a.k.a. Buhl Science Center), America's fifth major planetarium and Pittsburgh's science & technology museum from 1939 to 1991.
Formerly Trustee, Andrew Carnegie Free Library and Music Hall, Pittsburgh suburb of Carnegie, Pennsylvania, the fourth of only five libraries where both construction and endowment funded by famous industrialist & philanthropist Andrew Carnegie.
Author of History Web Sites on the Internet --
* Buhl Planetarium, Pittsburgh: Link >>> http://www.planetarium.cc Buhl Observatory: Link >>> http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/2016/11/75th-anniversary-americas-5th-public.html
* Adler Planetarium, Chicago: Link >>> http://adlerplanetarium.tripod.com
* Astronomer, Educator, Optician John A. Brashear: Link >>> http://johnbrashear.tripod.com
* Andrew Carnegie & Carnegie Libraries: Link >>> http://www.andrewcarnegie.cc
* Other Walsh-Authored Blog & Web-Sites: Link >>> https://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/gawweb.html
