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From: alan@idec.stc.co.uk (Alan Spreadbury)
Newsgroups: net.nlang
Subject: French Revolutionary Calendar
Message-ID: <565@idec.idec.stc.co.uk>
Date: Mon, 6-Jan-86 09:34:13 EST
Article-I.D.: idec.565
Posted: Mon Jan  6 09:34:13 1986
Date-Received: Wed, 8-Jan-86 07:44:57 EST
References: <174@watmath.UUCP> <262@ho95e.UUCP> <674@spar.UUCP> <635@utflis.UUCP> <1287@ihuxn.UUCP> <345@steinmetz.UUCP>
Reply-To: alan@idec.stc.co.uk (Alan Spreadbury)
Organization: STC IDEC, Stevenage, UK
Lines: 9
Keywords: ventose thermidor frimaire
Xpath: stc stc-a

The idea of having ten-day 'decades' to confuse the opposition (i.e. the
religious establishment of the day) reminds me that Napoleon was said to
have made his troops march on the right to confuse the enemy, who, of
course, kept to the left (as civilised countries still do (-:)).
Incidentally, I calculate 16 Dec 1985 as being 25 Frimaire 194; I wonder 
whether the one-day difference is due to non-leap century years. There
have been two in our calendar (1800 and 1900), but only one in the
revolutionary one (100) since 1792, hence I calculate the revolutionary
year as currently starting on 23 Sept.