Oxhill News |
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www.oxhill.com / www.oxhill.org.uk |
South Warwickshire, England. |
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The Oxhill News December 2003 |
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This months News |
Contents
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A Letter to the Editor Dear George, Here's an amuse bouche for the December issue:- The Dating Game The ambiguity of the dates of the Brumaire ('season of mists') of Louis Napoleon stems from the Revolutionary Calendar which was adopted in 1793 to mark the abolition of the French Monarchy but calculated to start from 1792. Consequently, later dates could be related to more than one point on the calendar. The year was divided into twelve thirty-day periods (conveniently allocating the five leftovers to Public Holidays) each named after Nature. Opposition from workers (who had lost out on rest days as a result) and the Catholic Church's fear of losing Christian significance from the calendar led Napoleon Bonaparte to abolish it 13 years later. It enjoyed a brief revival during the Commune of 1871 but never found a satisfactory way of dealing with leap years! Its legacy is the summer period which gave us Lobster Thermidor... Tony Eastaugh, Charity House
So now we all know. In my case, quite a bit more than I
did before. Thank you, Tony. Editor
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Last modified: March 28, 2004 |