What is a Calendar?

A calendar is merely a method to mark time, a system we have devised and changed - over centuries to plan the future, keep in mind the past and coordinate our lives. It's any system for dividing time over extended periods, and lets us know when religious holidays fall, when to celebrate a birthday or anniversary, when bills and taxes are due, when to go to work and how old we are. It gives us a temporal context in which to live along with a method to mark the progress of humankind. It shapes us and to a certain degree; controls us.

Throughout time, various countries, cultures and civilizations have had their own distinctive calendars, including the complex Mayan version of the ancient Central Americans; the system of the Roman Empire, which was chiseled into stone; the scientifically precise Persian version, that reflected the Sun; and also the Islamic system that follows the cycles of the Moon. But these days, in a global world, the common-use calendar is the Gregorian, introduced in 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII.

A number of others are still utilized, particularly for the timing of religious festivals, but generally they're utilized alongside the Gregorian, which is the standard for international Government, politics, science, and history. It didn't matter so a lot in ages past that various countries had conflicting calendar systems, but now as the world becomes one, as business and science is extended internationally, as one country's politics affects individuals around the globe, and overseas travel becomes more typical, a standard calendar is essential for civil use around the world.