French Republican calendar in useIn 1793, following the French Revolution, the new government wanted a new Calendar of Reason, also known as the French Revolutionary Calendar or Republican calendar to replace the Gregorian calendar. It was developed by a committee of mathematicians, astronomers, poets and dramatists. The year still had 12 months, but all were 30 days long, each having three 10-day décades instead of 7-day weeks. Five supplementary days were added to make a 365 day year (six in a leap year). A scheme of new names was introduced for the months, and even a name for every day of the year. The calendar was back-dated in the sense that the first day of the first year was set at 22 Sep 1792, to mark the start of the new Republic. The scheme was in place for about 14 years, but abolished on 31 Dec 1805.« |
