Gregorian calendar

The Gregorian calendar is the calendar widely used in the Western world. A modification of the Julian calendar, it was first proposed by the Neapolitan doctor Aloysius Lilius, and was decreed by Pope Gregory XIII, for whom it was named, on 24 February 1582 (Note: The papal bull Inter gravissimas was signed in the year 1581 for unknown reasons, but printed on 1 March in 1582. Although 1581 is often attributed to the use of years beginning on 25 March by the papacy, other contemporaneous papal bulls have years that do not agree with March years, let alone years since a pope was named or other types of years.)

Months of the year

The Gregorian calendar's year is divided into 12 months:

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English speakers sometimes remember the number of days in each month by the use of the traditional mnemonic verse: Thirty days hath September / April, June and November / All the rest have thirty-one / Excepting February alone / Which has but twenty-eight, in fine / Till leap year gives it twenty-nine. Alternate endings are: Which has eight and a score / Until leap year gives it one day more, or Which hath twenty-eight days clear / And twenty-nine in each leap year.

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A language-independent alternative is to hold up your two fists with the index knuckle of your left hand against the index knuckle of your right hand. Then, starting with January from the little knuckle of your left hand, count knuckle, space, knuckle, space through the months. A knuckle represents a month of 31 days, and a space represents a short month.

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