A bit off track but our list does have its quiet moments. The Julian calendar was introduced by Julius Caesar in 45 BC. It was in common use until the 1500s, when countries started changing to the Gregorian calendar. However, some countries (for example, Greece and Russia) used it into this century, and the Orthodox church in Russia still uses it, as do some other Orthodox churches. The Gregorian calendar was proposed by Aloysius Lilius, a physician from Naples, and adopted by Pope Gregory XIII in accordance with instructions from the Council of Trent (1545-1563) to correct for errors in the older Julian Calendar. It was decreed by Pope Gregory XIII in a papal bull on 24 February 1582. The papal bull of February 1582 decreed that 10 days should be dropped from October 1582 so that 15 October should follow immediately after 4 October, and from then on the reformed calendar should be used. This was observed in Italy, Poland, Portugal, and Spain. Other Catholic countries followed shortly after, but Protestant countries were reluctant to change, and the Greek orthodox countries didn't change until the start of this century. Denmark (including Norway): 18 Feb 1700 was followed by 1 Mar 1700 Finland: Then part of Sweden. 17 Feb 1753 was followed by 1 Mar 1753 Note, however, that Finland later became part of Russia, which then still used the Julian calendar. The Gregorian calendar remained official in Finland, but some use of the Julian calendar was made. Sweden decided to make a gradual change from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar. By dropping every leap year from 1700 through 1740 the eleven superfluous days would be omitted and from 1 Mar 1740 they would be in sync with the Gregorian calendar. In the meantime they would be in sync with nobody. So 1700 which should have been a leap year in the Julian calendar was not a leap year in Sweden. However, by mistake 1704 and 1708 became leap years. This left Sweden out of synchronisation with both the Julian and the Gregorian world, so they decided to go back to the Julian calendar. In order to do this, they inserted an extra day in 1712, making that year a double leap year! So in 1712, February had 30 days in Sweden. Later, in 1753, Sweden changed to the Gregorian calendar by dropping 11 days like everyone else. 17 Feb 1753 was followed by 1 Mar 1753 Uff Da Michael Andrews Hopkins, Minnesota << Subj: [VALDRES-L] calendar change Date: 10/18/2000 7:34:33 PM Central Daylight Time From: kestrels@alaska.net (Andrea & Oliver Backlund) Reply-to: kestrels@alaska.net To: VALDRES-L@rootsweb.com Can someone tell me when the Scandinavian countries changed from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar? I think it happened in England in about 1752, and am wondering how it affects my ancestors in Norway and Sweden. Mange hilsen, Oliver >>