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Spring Equinox

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Spring Equinox
See also      Calendar

It has been said that when the Spaniards arrived in Mexico in 16th century they observed that the local Indians were celebrating the beginning of the spring at a different date as theirs. There was only one explanation to this, either they were wrong or the Indians were wrong.

We know now that the ancient Meso-Americans were great masters in architecture and astronomy but at that time the Spaniards were supposed to be more advanced. Time went on and after some astronomical calculations it was found that the calendar followed in Europe was wrong and it had to be adjusted. Thus, Pope Gregory ordered that 15 October 1582 should be 5 October 1582 to adjust the old calendar with a new one.

However, because of England being a Protestant country and were protesting about anything that the Vatican did, the new calendar was not accepted until 2 September 1752, when by then there was 11 days difference. This change in England meant that from the Spring Equinox of 1753, the beginning of the Spring, started to be celebrated 11 days before, on 21 March.

But, there were still some people adamant to change their calendar and were still celebrating the beginning of the spring on 1 April. In this way the general population laughed at them calling them April Fools, and from then on April 1 is known in England as April Fool Day.

 

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Created by Sushma Gupta on 3/15/06
Contact:  sushmajee@yahoo.com
Updated on 06/09/11