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Flash Forward
SEPTEMBER 14, 1752 - The British Empire formally adopted the Gregorian calendar and by so doing skipped eleven days going from Wednesday, September 2 the previous day to Thursday, September 14. Prior to adopting the Gregorian calendar Britain had followed the Julian calendar, which was introduced by Julius Casaer in 46 BC. The Julian calendar assumes that the Earth orbits the Sun every 365.25 days, when in fact it is every 365.2425 days, a discrepancy of about 11 minutes. While this might seem an insignificant difference, over the years the time adds up. The Gregorian calendar was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582. Both the Julian calendar and the Gregorian calendar use a system of leap years to account for the partial day; however, the Gregorian calendar is modified to account for the shorter partial day so as to prevent the equinoxes from moving earlier each year. Many European countries were slow to adopt the more accurate calendar. The last holdouts were Russia and Greece, who adopted the Gregorian calendar in the early 1900's. By that time they had to drop 13 days from their calendars in order to catch up.
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Modern Day Moses
 SEPTEMBER 17, 1849 - Harriet Tubman, a black slave living on Maryland's Eastern Shore, escaped while being hired out by her master to a neighboring plantation. Also escaping with Tubman was her brothers, Ben and Henry. After only two weeks Tubman's brothers had second thoughts about leaving their families behind and returned to captivity, forcing Tubman to return with them. However, Tubman's short taste of freedom gave her the courage to escape again a short while later, this time alone. Using a network of freed slaves and white abolitionists known as the Underground Railroad, Tubman made her way 90 miles north to Philadelphia. Over the next several years Tubman made several journeys between the slave states of the South and the free states of the North as she helped more than 70 slaves escape bondage, earning herself the nickname "Moses." Tubman was later recruited to work as a Union spy during the Civil War and her vast network of contacts made her a valuable asset.
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Not the Happiest Place on Earth
 SEPTEMBER 19, 1959 - While on a tour of the United States, Nikita Khrushchev, the Premier of the Soviet Union, visited Los Angeles and received a tour of the Twentieth Century Fox Studios in Hollywood. There he was courted by such celebrities as Shirley MacLaine and Frank Sinatra. A highlight of Khrushchev's trip to the United States was to be a visit to Disneyland, but at the last minute he was barred from entering the theme park by government officials who feared the crowds would pose a safety hazard for the Premier. Khrushchev's famous temper flared and he launched into a tirade - "And I say, I would very much like to go and see Disneyland. But then, we cannot guarantee your security, they say. Then what must I do? Commit suicide? What is it? Is there an epidemic of cholera there or something? Or have gangsters taken hold of the place that can destroy me?" Khurshchev's classic temper tantrum is probably not unfamiliar to parents who tell their kids they can't go to Disneyland.
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"Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of.
- Benjamin Franklin
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Turn Back Time
If we continued to follow the Julian calendar today's date of September 13, 2012 would be August 31, 2012.
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History Answer
Here is the correct answer to last week's History Quiz:
A number one followed by one hundred zeros is known by what name? A. Googol B. Megatron C. Gigabit D. Nanomole Congratulations to Wayne Carroll who was one of several individuals who responded with the correct answer and who won the drawing for two movie passes.
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