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In the West, we tend to think that there is only one calendar, but there are dozens of them around the world. And what is more, there were probably hundreds of them before. All defunct now either because ours is more precise or because theirs did not fit in with our commercial way of life.

But that does not mean to say that people do not still use those old-fashioned, redundant calendars. Oh, no! Governments have given up their old, traditional national calendars, but in general, country folk still refer to them, even if they can no longer obtain a printed version. I cannot go into all the calendars here, but I will mention five or six of them.

Lunar Calendar – There is some indication that early man used marks on bone to record or indicate the passage of time 25,000 years ago, almost certainly calibrated by the Moon’s phases. A calendar can be created based on the lunar cycles; it creates a year of twelve months (the word ‘month’ is from the word ‘moon’), but only 354 days, which is, eleven short of the time it takes the Earth to revolve around the Sun. The Chinese still use a variety of the lunar calendar but they resolve this issue by inserting extra moths every now and then to bring ‘time’ back into alignment with the Sun.

Solar Calendar – The ancient Egyptians were the first people to employ a Solar Calendar, although it could justifiably be called a cosmological calendar. The new year began for them when Sirius, the Dog Star, the brightest star in the night sky, rose in the same place as the Sun. This usually coincided with the flooding of the Nile. This calendar was of 365 days; twelve months of thirty days and five festive days. Therefore, it was only one quarter of a day off the true year. However, this meant that gradually, the new year did not concur with the flood. Scientists have worked out that this calendar was adopted in either 4241 BC or 2773 BC.

Julian Calendar – In 46 BC , Julius Caesar realised that a number of provinces of the empire were using different calendars, so he instructed the dating system to be unified. Sosigenes came up with a calendar of 365 days with an extra day every four years. Therefore, in 46 BC, the longest year on record, Caesar added days to the year to bring it back into alignment with the seasons. 46 BC was 445 days long! The immensity of the Roman Empire ensured that this calendar was the defacto calendar of the Western world.

Julian Day Count – In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII instituted a new calendar, but the year after that Joseph Justus Scaliger developed a system of counting days, not years. It starts with 1 on January 1st 4713 BC. On this date the Julian and the lunar calendars and the Roman tax dating system all coincided; something that will next happen in 3267. January 1st 2001 was Julian day 2,451,913

Gregorian Calendar – from at least 730 AD, it was spotted that the year from vernal equinox to vernal equinox was short of the 365.25 days in a year. This had the consequence that the date of Easter was moving back. So he dropped 10 days from 1582 by jumping from October 4th to October 15th and proclaiming that century years would only be leap years if they were divisible by 400. Consequently, 1900 was not a leap year, but 2000 was. This is the calendar we still use today.

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with researching Franklin planner pages. If you have an interest in calendars, organizers or promotional calendars, please go over to our website now at Promotional Desk Calendars

It is a global custom to give gifts for such occasions as birthdays and wedding days, but after that is where the countries start to differ. Britons and people tracing their history back there give gifts on Christmas Day as well.

However, many other Europeans give gifts at Christmas on Saint Nicholas’ Day or December 6th. Non-Christian countries usually give gifts at New Year.

Whatever you do in your country, giving a present takes thought. The shops are frequently full of junk at these present-giving times of the year, but there is also a lot of excellent stuff about, at a cost. The alternatives are twofold on the whole.

You can either make something which will be unique, I suppose that this includes personalizing a shop-bought gift or you can think outside of the box, which many people find quite hard. Personally, I find it hard, but it does get easier the more often you try it and the better you know the person you are going to give the gift to.

Here then are a few ideas which you may resolve to take on board ‘as is’, or they may inspire you on to better ideas. As I write, Christmas is coming up and then it is Saint Valentine’s day before you know it. We certainly get lots of of occasions to practice buying presents in the West!

A Plot Of Your Own: I come from Wales in the UK (is there any other?) and up the way from me a local plot of green-belt land was in trouble. Experts said that it should be planted with trees, but the authorities did not have the funds, so they advertised six feet square plots of land for sale with a sapling of your preference on it.

You also got a title deed, instructions and a photo. In addition, the tree would be maintained for five years until it was established. I am aware that this is not the only place that did this and it was almost certainly not the first either, but it makes a good gift for a teenager who is thinking about what he or she can do to help the environment.

The Key To Success: some children and their parents will appreciate this one. Scour the second-hand shops for an older or even an unusual money box. Fill the money box up to a certain level with various coins that bring that level up to the value that you want to give, but leave plenty of room for the child to put money in too. Who do you give the key to? That depends on how well you know the child.

Starting A Collection: this is a brave, but good one. If you know the child well or are prepared to take on a commitment (such as a godparent should), you could select a set of collectables, like plates, glasses or coins and buy two or three pieces to start the collection off. You can add to it every year. Others will be thankful to you too because they will jump on the band wagon.

In The Bag: if your friend is an invalid or just is temporarily in hospital, it is beneficial to provide a wicker basket or a nice bag full of handy items. Select the items to suit your friend, but everyone might like a writing pad, a pen, a comb or brush, wet wipes or tissues, a small book of verse, a miniature radio with ear plugs, a mirror, straws, a bottle opener, only you know, but you get the idea, I’m sure.

Stamp It: you can buy a large packet of literally thousands of foreign stamps for very little. Buy a stamp album and hinges and you could start a lasting obsession. It also gives you gift ideas for years to come too.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with researching Fanklin planner pages. If you have an interest in calendars, organizers or promotional calendars, please go over to our website now at Promotional Desk Calendars

Hereunder is a list of minor holidays and occasions in the United States. Some of them are virtually unknown, and others are quite obscure.

April Fools’ Day – (April 1): the day for practical jokes (only before noon in the UK). Its origins are obscure, but it bears a resemblance to an ancient Roman festival for the goddess of nature.

Arbor Day – (last Friday in April): devoted to trees and their conservation. It is held on December 22 everywhere else in the world.

Armed Forces Day – (third Sunday in May): a day to honour the US armed forces.

Citizenship Day – (September 17): replaced Constitution Day in 1952 by presidential proclamation.

Daylight-Saving Time: was first proposed by Benjamin Franklin in 1784, but became the Uniform Time Act in 1966. It is not observed in Hawaii, the Eastern Time Zone of Indiana, most of Arizona (except on the Navajo Reservation), American Samoa, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Guam.

Election Day – (Tuesday after the first Monday in November): presidential elections are held in years divisible by four and elections for all members of the House of Representatives and one-third of the Senate in years evenly divisible by two.

Fathers’ Day – (third Sunday in June): was first observed in West Virginia in 1908, but this uniquely American holiday was not made official until 1972.

Flag Day – (June 14): was first celebrated in 1877, which was the centenary of the adoption of the modern design. Truman passed the Flag Day Bill in 1949.

Groundhog Day – (February 2): on this day the groundhog peeps out of his burrow. If he sees his own shadow there will be six weeks of Winter to follow, otherwise Spring is just around the corner.

Halloween – (October 31): All Hallow’s Eve is the day before the feast of All Saints. It began as a pagan custom honouring the dead and a celebration of Autumn. ‘Trick or Treat’ is purely American with no historical basis.

Kwanzaa – is a secular celebration by African-Americans to commemorate their African heritage. It commences on Dec.26th when a candle in a candelabrum is lit every day for seven days. It was first observed by Maulana Karenga in 1966.

Mothers’ Day – (second Sunday in May): was conceived by Anne M. Jarvis of Philadelphia as a way for children to pay homage to their mothers. It received presidential proclamation in 1914.

National Maritime Day – (May 22): was proclaimed in 1935 to memorialize the SS Savannah’s first successful transatlantic crossing by a steamship in 1819. It is also a day of remembrance of merchant mariners who died in defense of their country.

National Teachers’ Day – (Tuesday of the first full week in May): is when students are meant to honour the teaching profession.

St. Patrick’s Day – (March 17): has been borrowed from Ireland where it is their national saint’s day.

St. Valentine’s Day – (February 14): was originally to honour two saints martyred by Emperor Claudius (214 – 270), but has been dedicated to lovers since the Middle Ages.

Susan B. Anthony Day – (February 15): Anthony (1820 – 1906) worked for women’s rights and suffrage.

United Nations’ Day – (October 24): commemorates the endorsement of the UN Charter in 1945 by the then five permanent members of the Security Council.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with researching Franklin planner pages. If you have an interest in calendars, organizers or promotional calendars, please go over to our website now at Promotional Desk Calendars

A lot of people predicted that the beginning of the new Millennium, the year 2000 would be the date of the end of the world. However, fortunately, they were very wide of the mark.

What is it that makes people to attempt to predict disasters? Is it because they are attempting to warn people or because they wish to scare people? Frighten people, I think and thereby gain advantage over the naive.

These apocalyptic predictions go back thousands of years and even appear in the Bible. Their only raison d’etre is to frighten people and so gain money, power and influence over them.

Even the millennium bug turned out not to be a problem with computers working perfectly well after midnight despite claims by ‘computer experts’ that there would be a worldwide crash of stupendous significance. The computer industry made a fortune out of frightening businesses and individuals with their lies. That was the scam of the Nineties to end all scams!

So why all the hype? Was it just the dawn of a new millennium, which caused so many to make prophesies on this date rather than stick to their normal common sense? Yes, I think. People saw the opportunity of a lifetime to rip others off and they jumped at it.

Needless to say there were hundreds of prophesies made ranging from the arrival of aliens and the Second Coming of Christ to airplane crashes. None of which came true. Here are a few of those less than accurate predictions:

May 5th was the day upon which all the planets lined up. The prediction was that the gravitational force of all these heavenly bodies in alignment would cause massive earthquakes, huge tides and volcanic eruptions.

A lot of people also prophesied that the shifting of the poles would occur during 2000 and that this would cause disastrous events such as high tides, widespread electrical failure and computer failures, which would mean economic disaster for the larger countries and insurance firms.

I do not know what you think, but perhaps instead of worrying about the demise of the world (most doom-mongers have decided on the year 2012 for the destruction of the world) we should work together to make the best of the time we have left on this planet, as well as ensuring that we pass the planet on to the next generation in the same condition as we received it.

If we behave in this way, we may hold off the apocalypse for a long while yet. We are far more likely to suffer apocalypse through nuclear war, global warming and events which are avoidable and within our control, than cosmic events which we have little control over such as asteroids or the Sun’s developing into a red dwarf and eventually exploding.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with custom wall calendars If you have an interest in calendars, organizers or promotional calendars, please go over to our website now at Promotional Desk Calendars

Predicting the demise of the world has almost certainly been going on since man began thinking, whenever that was. It is warned about in Revelations in the Bible, so that must be about 2,000 years ago.

Nonetheless, it is the predictions of Nostradamus that are the most well-known and most abundant. Some biographical records of Nostradamus’ life state that he was afraid of being victimized for heresy by the Inquisition, although neither prophecy nor astrology fell under their jurisdiction. He would have been in danger only if he had practiced magic to back up his predictions.

In fact, his contact with the Church as a prophet and a healer were always excellent. His brief imprisonment at Marignane in late 1561 came about purely because he had published his 1562 Almanac without the previous consent of a bishop, contravening a recent royal decree.

Here then are a few of the prophesies of the ending of the world and the annihilation of mankind.

December 21st, 22nd or 23rd 2012 are all possible dates for the ending of the world according to the ancient Mayan Calendar.

2012 has been determined by some to be the first potential date for the passing by of Planet X (Wormwood) and the demise of the world, as mentioned in Revelations, although this is fervently debated by Biblical experts and astronomers alike.

2012 is also the year given by Nostradamus as the possible demise. He gave three possible years for the apocalypse: 1994 and 1998 so this is his last opportunity to be correct.

2010 is the year so says the Hermetic Order of Golden Dawn.

In 1143 St Malachy prophesied that there would be only another 112 more Popes. The current Pope Benedict is the 111th. He also predicted that the final Pope would be known as Peter of Rome, so we will have to wait and see for this one.

2017 is the year specified to the Sword of God Brotherhood by the Angel Gabriel.

November 13th 2026 is the date according to a 1960 copy of ‘Science’ magazine. The writer said that this would be the day that the planet’s human population would ‘reach infinity’.

2033 is held by many to be the 2000th anniversary of the crucifixion of Christ and a potential date for his return, which would signal the demise of our Earthly times.

4,500,000,000 AD is the approximate date at which the Sun is due to explode and in so doing, destroy the inner solar system including our World. Nobody knows, but unless we wipe out ourselves first, this latter date is probably the most accurate and scientific date for the destruction of the planet.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with custom wall calendars If you have an interest in calendars, organizers or promotional calendars, please go over to our website now at Promotional Desk Calendars

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Even if you were to invent something earth-shattering, you would not earn any money from of it if you left the invention on your desk. The only way you can profit from it is by selling it and in order to achieve this, you have to inform people that it exists, that it is for sale and where they may get it from. In other words, you have to advertise it.

The US Patents Office has issued thousands patents for items that never made it and many of those did not make it, not because they were not excellent concepts, but because their inventors did not know what to do with them. A business is more or less the same as a new invention. It has to be advertised, unless it is situated in the middle of the only street in town.

Having already started the business, it is to be expected that, you have already worked out your target market and evaluated the need for your products or services. Now you have to convert those potential customers into satisfied customers and this is where your promotional strategy comes in.

A promotional strategy is nothing more than a for reaching your intended market, which is of course the people most likely to need your services or products. At its simplest, your promotional strategy might consist of just hanging a sign over your door and relying on word of mouth from satisfied customers to spread, so doing your advertising for you.

In some circumstances, this is indeed all the advertising a business needs, but the cases are not that common really. It works, if you are operating in a very small town or if your product or service is unique or very specialized or if you enjoy a long-standing good reputation. However, normally, customers need more details to go on before they will be drawn to your business.

Therefore, the objective of your promotional strategy should be to get in touch with the greatest quantity of potential customers by the most economical use of your means, which may include money, personnel and facilities. This means that you have to divine the channels of communication most used by your potential customers and try to reach them through those. This is usually constrained by a budget.

Advertising involves the purchasing of time or space in the media you have chosen in order to market your business to your intended market. You then have to decide which form of advertising you are going to use: institutional or product advertising. Institutional advertising markets the firm’s name as in: ‘Larry’s Boot Shop – The Best In Town’, whereas product advertising is more specific and might read: ‘Nike Walking Boots – 30% off at Larry’s. Offer Finishes Soon!’

Both forms of advertising can be successful and lend themselves better to some media than to others. Institutional advertising is better carried out on shop signs, sign-written vans or windows or promotional calendars, that is, static, long-term, business name advertising and product advertising is better done by newspaper, magazine, radio and TV, where one-off special offers can be promoted.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with promotional wall calendars. If you have an interest in calendars, organizers or promotional calendars, please go over to our website now at Promotional Desk Calendars

If you were to create a self-cleaning textile, the world may want to beat a path to your door to buy some from you, but first of all they will have to know that the fabric exists, that it is available for purchase, and they have to be aware of where your door is. This requires advertising.

There are two classifications of advertising: institutional and product. Institutional advertising markets the name of your business in general and product advertising markets a product or range of products or services. The sort of publicity that a company needs, depends on the products or services that it provides.

Moreover, some kinds of advertising lend themselves better to institutional advertising rather than product advertising. For instance, a shop sign, a sign-written van or a promotional calendar are better suited to institutional advertising, while a newspaper or magazine advert would be better for advertising the latest special offer.

There are few facts and figures available that bring to light the extraordinary growth of the mass consumption society as well as those dealing with the expansion of the advertising industry. For instance, before the Second World War, US average annual expenditure on advertising per year had been about $2 billion for decades.

In 1950, as the post-war economy began to recover , American businesses spent $5.7 billion to advertise its goods and services. By 1960, that amount had doubled to $12 billion. By 1970, American business was spending $20.

Between 1970 and 1990, as the children Baby Boomers became adults and began earning and spending, advertising expenditure went through the roof, so that by 1986, it had reached $100 billion.

That phenomenal rate of increase could not be maintained, but by 1999, total expenditure on all forms of advertising topped $215 billion . The last available figures are for 2007 and they stand at $280 billion.

In 1999, nearly 60% of all advertising dollars were spent on adverts in newspapers, magazines, on the radio and on TV. By 2007, that figure had fallen to about 54% as the Internet started to have an effect on advertising trends. These trends are expected to continue as every firm is expected to have its own website these days.

The nation’s largest advertisers are the manufacturers of cars, food, soft drinks, tobacco and beer and they filter most of their expenditure through about 13,000 advertising agencies., who normally create the ads and acquire the space or air time from the media too.

These agencies have been transformed over the last decade by amalgamation. The most successful advertising agencies these days are huge international concerns. WPP, the largest advertising agency in the world, billed $37 billion in 2008 and had this to say about itself:

“Our total revenue in 2008 surpassed that of all our competitors, regaining the No.1 worldwide position for the third time”.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with researching promotional wall calendars. If you have an interest in calendars, organizers or promotional calendars, please go over to our website now at Promotional Desk Calendars

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Are you wondering what the best times to try to schedule a fly fishing trip are? Well, when we talk about a fly fishing calendar, we are not quite referring to a printed calendar that you can hang on your wall. We are talking about targeting and specifying the right times to fish and the right places at which to fish.

The main thing you need to look at when you are considering drawing up a fly fishing calendar is: when will the water be at the optimum temperature? That is, the temperature that is best for catching fish. The right time to go fishing will depend on the area that you are looking at for your fly fishing trip.

In some locations, like California, the fishing is very good all the year round. While in other locations, such as Washington, you will have to stay away from the water in the winter as the cold temperatures will stress the fish and they will not be as plenteous.

Generally speaking, the fly fishing calendar shows that the best fly fishing is in the spring and summer periods. Early fall will also find some places seeing good fishing as well. Almanacs can be helpful to guide you towards the best fishing times and locations as can constantly updating Internet web sites that are run by dedicated local fishermen.

Many locations will give weekly, and sometimes even daily fishing intelligence on their websites. They can tell you where the fish are biting and where the best locations in the river are to cast your line. They generally keep these fields of their web sites up-to-date pretty frequently. So you can get quality reports just by looking at what other anglers have to say about their fishing experiences.

Usually, fish like warmer water, although, there are other species like salmon and steelhead that thrive in colder water. However, in general, warm water will attract more fish. Nevertheless, if the water is too warm, the fish will be sluggish and will swim to locations where the water is cooler.

The fly fishing calendar used most often by experienced fishermen has been compiled over a long period of time. They expend a considerable quantity of effort to estimate where and when the best fishing will take place. Then they share it with others. That is one of the best things about fly fishing – the camaraderie and the sharing that can come about because of a mutual affection for the sport of fly fishing.

You can create your own fly fishing calendar with a little time and effort. Just do your homework and keep plenty of notes. When you see a trend, you will know that it is time to go fishing! Then you should be sure to help your fellow anglers by passing on the information via a local club or the Internet, if you are talented at it, because others will be trying to figure out what you already know. You know that most fly fishermen would do the same for you, do you not?

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with researching Franklin planner pages. If you have an interest in calendars, organizers or promotional calendars, please go over to our website now at Promotional Desk Calendars

categories: calendars,time,astronomy,science,education,organising,environmental,recreation,hobbies,time,solar system,outdoors,other,uncategorized

Thousands of years ago, ancient Greek astronomers calculated that the track of the Earth’s axis is constantly, even if in a very slow way, shifting in a uniform pattern. The variation is very similar to the manner a spinning top slowly leans one way and then another as it slows down. It is a wobble that happens as its axis alters direction.

This odd movement of the planet is due to several factors, the most important of which is something called ‘precession’. Precession stems from the fact that the Earth is not a perfect sphere. It is in fact about twenty-seven miles longer around the Equator that it is around the Poles. The Earth then is oblate, or fat around the middle like middle-aged spread, but it is due to the spinning not to its age.

If you picture the Earth with its Poles off centre. Then rotate that image and you will find that any point, except the exact centre of the axis, will move in a circle. But very, very gradually. So slowly that it takes 26,000 years to travel full circle and get back to where it started from.

This point then, any point you choose, is very gradually shifting its location in relation to the stars because the axis is gyrating too. The result of this is that, what we call the North Star (formally known as Polaris, which is in fact one degree off true North) will not be over our North Pole one day. In fact, by about 15,000 AD, Vega will be almost above the North Pole, although it will be about four degrees off true North. But even this will not endure, and by 28,000 AD, Polaris will be back above where it is nowadays.

One of the effects of the precession is that seasons vary. They modify the dates that they take place, so that Summer could come earlier or later. The amazing thing about our calendar is that it is corrected for that (with the leap year). If it were not, the vernal or Spring equinox would shift over 13,000 years from March 21st to September 21st., which is the date of the autumnal equinox, precisely half a year later.

It is for this reason that the precession of the Earth is generally referred to as the “Precession of the Equinoxes”. Although the precession of the equinoxes is very slow, it can be readily observed. The correct year of 325.25 days is the length of time from one vernal equinox to the next vernal equinox, however, it takes 20 minutes and 24 seconds longer for the Sun to appear in precisely the same place with relation to the stars behind it over the same period. This is why accurate star maps have to be stamped with the exact time and date to which they refer.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with researching Franklin planner pages. If you have an interest in calendars, organizers or promotional calendars, please go over to our website now at Promotional Desk Calendars

categories: calendars,time,astronomy,science,education,organising,environmental,recreation,hobbies,time,solar system,outdoors,other,uncategorized