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From WinkyPedia, the free encyclopedia that tells you what you already knew
The calendar change of 1752 was the switch by Great Britain and its colonies from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar, which most of Catholic Europe had adopted in 1582. To catch up, eleven days were skipped: Wednesday 2 September 1752 was followed directly by Thursday 14 September.[1] The days of the week carried on in order; only the dates jumped. Nobody in Britain had a birthday between 3 and 13 September that year, and nobody was a day older for it.
The same law also moved the start of the year. In England the legal year had begun on 25 March; from 1752 it began on 1 January. As a result, 1751 was a short year, running only from 25 March to 31 December.[2] In two consecutive years, Britain lost almost three months and then eleven days, and still managed to keep its appointments.
The UK's personal tax year still begins on 6 April, a date usually explained as the old New Year of 25 March moved on by the eleven skipped days, and then by one more day in 1800.
Stories are often told of crowds rioting and shouting “Give us our eleven days!”, believing their lives had been shortened. Historians have found little evidence that any such riots took place; the slogan seems to come largely from a satirical painting and later retellings.