An artist asked the gallery owner if there had been any interest in his paintings on display at that time.
"I have good news and bad news," the owner replied. "The good news is that a gentleman enquired about your work and wondered if it would appreciate in value after your death. When I told him it would, he bought all 15 of your paintings."
"That's wonderful!" the artist exclaimed. "What's the bad news?"
"The guy was your doctor...."
Last Julian calendar day in FranceIn 1582, this date, 9 Dec 1582, was the last using the Julian calendar in France. Tomorrow will be 20 Dec 1582 on the Gregorian calendar introduced by Pope Gregoy XIII. In Italy, the change had already taken place two months earlier, having ended use of the Julian calendar on 4 Oct 1582. Some regions that are part of present-day France, but acted independently then, continued using the Julian calendar. The last day of the Julian calendar for these were Alsace: 5 Feb 1682; Lorraine: 16 Feb 1670; Strasbourg: Feb 1682. However, after the French Revolution, the Republican calendar, with twelve months of 30 days each plus five supplementary days (six in a leap year) was adopted on 24 Nov 1793, and not abolished until 31 Dec 1805. The Gregorian calendar was followed from 1 Dec 1806.« |
