A Passion for Calendars -- From the Maya to Mars

How many days were there in 1752?┬á Is there a year 0?┬á When was there a February 30th?┬á Why did an aluminum company lose $1,000,000 on New Year’s Eve?┬á Who thinks 1900 was a leap year?┬á Why is Passover late?┬á Why does Ramadan end early?┬á Does the Chinese calendar follow a 19 year cycle?┬á Why do the Hindus skip days and months?┬á Who would pay for a Martian calendar? ┬á This talk will answer these ten questions and explain the underpinnings of the major types of calendars: solar (Gregorian, Julian, Persian, Hindu); lunar (Islamic); lunisolar (Chinese, Hebrew, Hindu); cyclical (Mayan, Balinese).┬á It will concentrate on computational features of calendrical calculations, but also dwell on historical and cultural aspects.