Should There Be A Fixed Date For Easter Sunday?

Given that it is one of the most important holidays of the year and all of Christendom, should there be a fixed date on when should Easter Sunday should be observed on the calendar?

By: Ringo Bones 

It must have been very awkward back in 2014 when Easter fell on the 20^th of April which made for a very awkward Easter Sunday celebration. Not only because April 20 have been set aside for the celebration of 420 – i.e. the global movement for the legalization of marijuana not only for medical use but also for recreational use as well and there had been recently unearthed evidences that Jesus Christ used marijuana, but also because April 20 his Adolf Hitler’s birthday which gave a whole new meaning of the “comical euphemism” - Jesus Hitler Christ. Thankfully to the relief of more “conservative Christians” plans are in motion to set aside a fixed date for Easter Sunday and it is safe to bet that it will not be one of “awkward days” between the months of March and April. 

The current Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, had been in talk with various leaders of the different Christian sects around the world and the preliminary agreement of the talks suggests that most of them are in favor of a fixed date for Easter Sunday. The only group opposed to the proposal of a fixed date for Easter Sunday was the top brass of the Coptic Orthodox Church. But according to the Archbishop of Canterbury, the final decision to establish a fixed date for Easter Sunday will probably happen 5 to 10 years from now. But why is it that the celebration of Easter Sunday doesn’t have a fixed date? 

During the early days of the Christian church prior to the reign of Pope Victor I (189 – 198 AD), the Western Churches, as a rule, kept Easter on the first day of the week in the beginning of Springtime, while many of the Eastern Churches conforming to the Jewish rule of celebrating Passover, observed Easter on the 14^th day of the Jewish month of Nisan. Through the energetic efforts of Pope Victor I, the latter practice gradually disappeared. But another problem came to the fore: granted that Easter was to be kept on Sunday, how was that Sunday to be determined? 

The Council of Nicaea in 325 AD paved the way fro the final settlement by ruling that Easter is to be observed by all on the same Sunday, that this must be the Sunday following the 14^th day of the paschal moon, and that moon was to be accounted whose 14^th day followed the vernal equinox. Because of the differences in the systems of chronology followed in various places, however, the decrees of Nicaea did not immediately remove all difficulties nor win universal acceptance. The Gregorian correction by Pope Gregory XIII of the Julian calendar then in use in 1582, moreover, introduced still further discrepancies. 

Throughout Western, Christendom the corrected calendar is now universally accepted and Easter is solemnized on the first Sunday after the full moon following the vernal equinox as first suggested by an English monk named Venerable Bede back in the year 700, with the result that the earliest possible date for Easter Sunday is March 22 and the latest is April 25. In the East, however, the calendar has not been bought into accord with the Gregorian reform and thus their observance of Easter seldom coincides with the Western date. In recent years, laudable endeavors have been made to fix the date of Easter, but definite results are still awaited. Let’s just hope that the current Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby succeeds and his name will be immortalized together with the Venerable Bede. 

North Korea To Go Back In Time, Literally?

Even though it might still be physically impossible under current technology, can North Korea go 30 minutes back in time literally?

By: Ringo Bones 

Most countries in the Korean peninsula are “busy” marking the 70^th Anniversary of the end of World War II, while the secretive “Hermit Kingdom” of North Korea attempts to go 30 minutes back in time, literally. At least it is for largely political reasons. North Korea’s top lawmaking body – The Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly – decreed on Wednesday, August 12, 2015 that clocks in North Korea will be moved back by 30 minutes and the “New North Korean Time Zone” would take effect in August 15, 2015 so when the clocks in North Korea hit midnight in the evening of August 14, 2015, all clocks in the “Hermit Kingdom” should be rolled back 30 minutes, according to the report carried by the North Korea’s Central News Agency.  

North Korea currently shares a time zone with South Korea and the peninsula’s former colonial ruler, Japan. The decree would restore North Korea to a time zone that the country used before Japan colonized it. According to the report, The North Korean Presidium said in its decree: “The wicked Japanese imperialists committed such unpardonable crimes as depriving Korea of even its standard time.” 

North Korea’s “official version” of history glosses over the United States’ fight against Japan during World War II, including the role of the two atomic bombs in bringing about the end of the war. Instead, Pyongyang’s “official history” credits Kim Il Sung, North Korea’s founder, with fighting Japan off the Korean peninsula which Tokyo governed as a colony for 35 years until 1945. For good or bad, the majority of North Koreans will probably not even notice the 30 minute rollback of their “New North Korean Time Zone” given that they have no internet access or investing in the international stock exchange or are serious amateur astronomers. 

Why Do Our Clocks Move Clockwise?

A very esoteric question with a somewhat not-so-esoteric answer, but have you ever wondered why most elementary school kids haven’t been taught on the reason why clocks move clockwise? 

By: Ringo Bones 

Well, the reason our clocks – most of them anyway – move clockwise and so does our steam gauges is that the modern clock is an evolutionary step above of the sundial and in the northern hemisphere – where most of the planet Earth’s people live and civilization first developed – a sundial’s shadow moves clockwise as the sun travels across the sky through the day. While in the southern hemisphere, a shadow cast by a sundial will move counterclockwise, making the modern clock a representation of daylight in the northern hemisphere. The seasons too are flipped. 

In a move that will probably educate the rest of us and help Bolivians find heir indigenous roots, Bolivian foreign minister David Choquehuanca launched the horological initiative that not only help Bolivians get in touch with their indigenous roots but also remind them that they are a people of Earth’s southern hemisphere. AS a grand gesture of their horological initiative, the large clock of the congress building of La Paz, Bolivia runs counterclockwise and the numbers are mounted in reverse in comparison to clocks developed in the northern hemisphere. If Bolivia’s Counterclockwise Clock fails to remind Bolivians of their southern hemisphere roots, I don’t know what will. 

Even though it is seldom mentioned in the story’s canon, DC Comics’ Hawkman and Hawkgirl’s home planet Thanagar has its dominant civilization and most of its people develop in the southern hemisphere of the planet. Because of this, their clocks and steam gauges move counterclockwise in comparison to ours. And if the Bolivian foreign minister gets his way, he may have Bolivia’s steam gauges – as in speedometers and other forms of tachometers – move in a counterclockwise fashion to remind Bolivians that they are citizens of the planet Earth’s southern hemisphere. 

Mean Solar Time: Mechanical Clock Time?

Despite its namesake, did you know that mean solar time was primarily introduced when mechanical clocks and other man-made time keeping devices of considerable accuracy gained widespread use? 

By: Ringo Bones 

The introduction of clocks and watches toward the end of the 17^th Century forced the introduction of mean solar time. Despite its rather misleading name suggesting that one’s accuracy is dependent on the other, the mean solar time is defined by the “mean sun” – defined, descriptively, as a fictitious body which moves in the celestial equator at the same average speed of the true sun. The hour angle of the mean sun is the mean solar time by qualitative – but not rigorous astronomical – definition. The difference in time between true solar time and mean solar time is called the “equation of time.” It is not really an equation, but only the difference in time; it can be as large as 16 minutes. 

As mentioned previously, mean solar time is obtained by observing the stars and not the sun. Star observations furnish “sidereal time” as sidereal is derived from the Latin word sidereus meaning star or constellation. By means of a mathematical formula, sidereal time is converted to mean solar time. Mean solar time is rigorously defined in such a way that it is a strict measure of the angular position of the earth about its axis, irrespective of whether or not there are changes in the speed of rotation. It is because mean solar time is a measure of the rotation of the earth that it is needed for the determination of longitude and for any other application where the angular position of the earth in space must be known. 

Thanksgivingukkah: A Once In Every 70,000 Year Holiday?

Even though it was just a fluke that in 2013 Thanksgiving and the first day of Hanukkah fell on the same day, does this quirky coincidence make it a new American holiday? 

By: Ringo Bones 

Thanksgivingukkah has now been all the rage as of late, but does it qualify as a bona-fide American holiday? The legendary boxing promoter Don King could be making his iconic “only in America” speeches about the birth of this holiday. But the truth is – the extraordinary similarity between the two seemingly disparate holidays could astound everyone not yet in the know. 

In truth, both the American Thanksgiving and Hanukkah were born in times of civil war. The origins Hanukkah was born out of the Maccabean Revolt of 167 to 160 BC – which is a “civil war” of sorts between occupying Syrian tribes and Hebrews on what is now the state of Israel. While the “salient theme” of the American Thanksgiving dates back to the Pilgrims sitting down with a banquet with the Native American tribes that they became first acquainted with, it wasn’t until the then US President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday of November as the official American Thanksgiving Holiday at the height of the American Civil War back in 1863. But should American’s this day and age combine the two just because both fall on the same day? 

At least it happens only once in every 70,000 years or so and if we continue using the Gregorian Calendar for the next upcoming millenniums, it is safe to say that Thanksgivingukkha will be celebrated again. Well, it’s only a once in every 70,000 year holiday making it around a thousand times less likely to occur in comparison to the once in every 76-year return of the Halley’s Comet. 

When Is A Leap Year Not A Leap Year?

A February 29th in 2012 may be proof that its a bona fide leap year, but are there supposed "leap years" that are disqualified from getting their own February 29ths?

By: Ringo Bones

Believe it or not, the year 2000 might be the only century year within most of existing folks lifetimes that passed muster to necessitate a February 29th. On the other hand, century years - those ending in double zeroes - ordinarily do not deserve a February 29th, as in the century years of 1700, 1800 and 1900 didn't have this additional day. But once every four centuries, the double-0 year is a leap year, and the year 2000 was one of them.

The complexity of adding leap years is due to the fact that humans like to work with nice whole numbers while Mother Nature never obliges to such a "square" convention. Measured against astronomical observations, a typical Earth year lasts 365.2422 days - i.e 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 46 seconds. If the Earth year were 365.25 days long - or about 11 minutes longer when measured against background stars - rules for adding a February 29th would have been much simpler and we would add one leap day every fourth year in order to eliminate the fraction. But the planet Earth circles our Sun a tad faster than that, so we occasionally have to skip the once-every-four-year February 29th.

Bypassing three leap years every 400 years may be confusing, but it gets the job done. This extra "tweak" - introduced by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582 - keeps our calendar accurate to one day every 3,300 years. Years divisible by 4,000 are not leap years, which fixes that little glitch. Although critics of Pope Gregory's method say this tweak needs further refinement and necessitates the addition of a February 30th in the year 3000 to keep the Gregorian Calendar accurate beyond that date.

If it weren't for this elaborate system of leap years, each January 1 would begin at a slightly different point in the Earth's orbit around our Sun. That might not seem like such a big deal, but eventually the seasons would start at odd times. Christmas would come in August - or summer in the Northern Hemisphere - if this went on long enough. Our previous calendar - i.e. the Julian Calendar - in which all century years were leap years, was good enough for Julius Caesar, but its annual 11-minute error eventually did add up. By the 1500s, equinoxes and solstices took place a full 10 days too early.

In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII boldly returned the seasons to their intended schedules by simply eliminating 10 days from the calendar. So in that year, October 4 was immediately followed by October 15. Pope Gregory also decreed at that time that all century years divisible by 400 would be leap years.

Will the World End in 2012?

Given a significant portion of the Earth's population got a sudden preoccupation of the Mayan calendar during the last two years, is there really something to this the world will end in December 23, 2012 nonsense?

By: Ringo Bones

To cut to the chase, the only that's both interestingly "scientific" about the world ending in December 23, 2012 nonsense is the part where our planet Earth's 23 and a half degree axial tilt of rotation will align the Sun with the galactic center of our Milky Way galaxy near the end of 2012 - around December in fact according to the Mayan calendar. But is there any cause for alarm?

Astronomers have known for quite awhile now that the 26,000-year cycle of the Earth's rotational tilt had been shifting the Earth's celestial alignment at a rate of one degree for every 72 years since humanity began to carefully observe the stars in the nighttime sky. But is the hubbub surrounding the 2012 end-of-the-world obsession of a significant number of the Earth's populace nothing more that a quirk of celestial geometry?

Strangely enough, the 2012 galactic alignment will coincide with peak in Solar activity in the summer solstice of 2012 - thus the preoccupation by doomsayers that this quirk could allow the Sun to supposedly trigger massive geologic upheavals near the tail end of 2012. From the Mayans to Nostradamus, the galactic alignment had since been used as a rather hackneyed temporal signpost to mark a world-ending catastrophe. Could geometry spell doom for our seemingly eternal planet Earth?