World Calendar

The World Calendar is a proposed reform of the Gregorian calendar created by Elisabeth Achelis of Brooklyn, New York in 1930.

Features

The World Calendar is a 12-month, perennial calendar with equal quarters. It is perennial, or perpetual, because it remains the same every year.

Each quarter begins on Sunday, ends on Saturday. The quarters are equal: each has exactly 91 days, 13 weeks or 3 months. The three months have 31, 30, 30 days respectively. Each quarter begins with the 31-day months of January, April, July, or October.

The World Calendar also has the following two additional days to maintain the same new year days as the Gregorian calendar.

Worldsday

The last day of the year following 30 December. This additional day is dated "W", which equals 31 December, and named Worldsday, a year-end world holiday. It is followed by Sunday, January 1 in the new year.

Leapyear Day

This day is similarly added at the end of the second quarter in leap years. It is also dated "W", which equals 31 June, and named Leapyear Day. It is followed by Sunday, July 1 within the same year.

The World Calendar treats Worldsday and Leapyear Day as a 24-hour waiting period before resuming the calendar again. These off-calendar days, also known as "intercalary days," are not assigned weekday designations. They are intended to be treated as holidays.

Background and history

The World Calendar has its roots in the proposed calendar of the Abbot Marco Mastrofini, a proposal to reform the Gregorian calendar year so that it would always begin on Sunday, January 1, and would contain equal quarters of 91 days each. The 365th day of the solar cycle would be a year-end, "intercalary" and optionally holy day. In leap years, a second "intercalary day" follows Saturday, June 30.

Elisabeth Achelis founded The World Calendar Association (TWCA) in 1930, with the goal of worldwide adoption of The World Calendar. It functioned for most of the next twenty-five years as The World Calendar Association, Inc. Throughout the 1930s, support for the concept grew in the League of Nations, the precursor of the United Nations. Achelis started the Journal of Calendar Reform in 1931, publishing it for twenty-five years , and wrote five books on the calendar concept.

Following World War II, Achelis solicited worldwide support for The World Calendar. As the movement gained international appeal and legislation introduced in the United States Congress awaited international decisions, Achelis accepted advice that the United Nations was the proper body to act on calendar reform. At the United Nations in 1955, the United States significantly delayed universal adoption by withholding support "unless such a reform were favored by a substantial majority of the citizens of the United States acting through their representatives in the Congress of the United States." Also, Achelis wrote in 1955, (JCR Vol. 25, page 169), "While Affiliates and Committees have over the years and still are able to approach all branches of their governments, the Incorporated (International) Association was prevented from seeking legislation in the United States lest it lose its tax exempt status. Because of this I have been prevented from doing in my own country that which I have been urging all other Affiliates to do in theirs."

By 1956, she dissolved The World Calendar Association, Incorporated. It continued as the International World Calendar Association through the rest of the century with several directors including Molly E. Kalkstein, a descendant of Achelis, who provided the Association's first official website during her 2000-2004 tenure. The Association reorganized in 2005 as The World Calendar Association, International. It is currently active with resumed efforts towards adoption of The World Calendar in 2012. The World Calendar Association's current director is Wayne Edward Richardson of Ellinwood, Kansas.

Benefits and problems

As with other calendar reform proposals, supporters point out several benefits to The World Calendar over the current Gregorian calendar.

Proponents refer to its simple structure. In each year, every weekday is assigned to the same date. Quarterly statistics are easier to compare, since the four quarters are the same length each year. Economic savings occur from less need to print calendars because only the year number changes. Work and school schedules do not need to unnecessarily reinvent themselves, at great expense, year after year. The World Calendar can be memorized by anyone and used similar to a clock.

Because The World Calendar is perpetual, there is no need to change out copies of it every year. The calendar corresponds from September 1 to February 28 with the Gregorian calendar. (The last four months of 2006 correspond to The World Calendar and allow a preview to the convenience offered by a simpler calendar. [1]) Other dates in The World Calendar occur with no more than two days difference from Gregorian calendar dates.

Religious Objections

The main opponents of The World Calendar in the 20th century were leaders of religions that worship according to a seven-day cycle. For Jews, Christians and Muslims, particular days of worship are ancient and fundamental elements of their faith.

Jews worship on Saturday, the Sabbath Day, on the basis of the Ten Commandments' injunction to "Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy" (Exodus 20:8). Christians worship on Sunday, the Lord's Day, on which they believe Christ rose from the dead. For Muslims Friday is a compulsory day of worship, the day Adam was made.

Adherents of these religions point out that intercalary days are counted outside the usual seven-day week and disrupt the traditional weekly cycle. A week with a Worldsday would be 8 days long, causing the worship days to drift by one day each year (2 on a leap year), relative to The World Calendar week. The problem is that the day of rest would no longer coincide with the weekend.

These concerns played a role in the United States government's decision at the United Nations in 1955 not to recommend further study.

Supporters of The World Calendar do not deny that their system is at odds with the traditions of a significant portion of the world's population, but argue that Worldsdays and Leapyear Days can be treated as "double" holy days by those who wish to maintain the seven-day week sequence.

ISO 8601

The World Calendar, unlike some other proposals, is not compatible with the international standard ISO 8601, which is based upon, but differs from, the Gregorian calendar. They differ regarding the first weekday of the week (Sunday vs. Monday) and ISO 8601 does not support intercalary dates (e.g. in notation). The World Calendar, however, modifies the Gregorian calendar less than other calendar reform proposals to achieve the sought after improvements of a simpler and perpetual calendar.

See also

• 53-week calendar
• Calendar reform

External links

• Biography of Elisabeth Achelis
• The World Calendar Association Website
• Calendar Reform