January 1 ns
December 19 os
We mark certain days of the year with ‘On This Day’ posts, recalling events associated with them.
Our events are grouped under two calendars. The Gregorian ‘New Style’ (NS) is the worldwide calendar first issued at Rome in 1582. On that calendar, today is January 1. The Julian ‘Old Style’ (OS), also issued at Rome but in 46 BC, was used in Roman Britain and then in England from Anglo-Saxon times until 1752. It is still used today by roughly 100 million Orthodox Christians worldwide. On that calendar, today is December 19.
Today
Having brought hundreds of convicts to New South Wales, Arthur Phillip then had to conjure order out of their chaos.
The first British settlement in Australia was established at Sydney Cove on January 26th, 1788, and named after the Home Secretary. The policy of penal transportation was barbarity, but out of it Captain Phillips and his successors conjured civilisation — and began by disobeying orders.
Posted February 20 2019
Today
The people of Rome suddenly turned their back on centuries of ‘sport’ - all because of one harmless old man.
After Alaric the Goth’s assault on Rome was successfully turned back, victory games were held in the Roman Colosseum on January 1st, 404. As usual, they quickly descended into savagery.
Posted March 13 2015
Today
For Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Christmas was a time to let the dead past bury its dead.
The death of Tennyson’s close friend Arthur Henry Hallam left familiar Christmas Eve customs such as the holly and the music and the dancing full of sad memories for him. He responded positively, however, embracing the deeper message of Christmas Day: a new beginning, a New Year.
Posted December 29 2016
Today
When columnist ‘Alpha of the Plough’ was asked to select his most memorable moment of the Great War, he told the story of HMS Formidable.
Asked which event of the Great War had made the deepest impression on him, columnist ‘Alpha of the Plough’ recalled the fate of HMS Formidable, twice torpedoed by a German U-Boat during night-time exercises off the Devon coast on January 1st, 1915. The Captain, 34 officers and 512 crew died; 157 men were picked up from the water or made it ashore in two boats.
Posted October 30 2020
The Calendar below shows the year on the Roman (Gregorian or ‘New Style’) Calendar for 2025. Click on any date to see the events we have marked for it.
Roman Easter 2025: Sunday March 31
Old English Easter 2025: Sunday May 5
Christmas 2025: Thursday December 25
Old English Christmas 2025: Wednesday January 7, 2026
January
March
April
May
July
August
September
October
November