Dates, calendars and Anniversaries

Typical questions

Considerations

When answering this type of question it is sensible to consider the age of the enquirer and the level of information that would be appropriate. Some questions are straightforward and simply need one of the sources below, but others require guidance. Choose birthday history sites with care, as many have sponsorship and trivia that may be inappropriate when dealing with children.

Where to look

Calendars

Westrheim, M. (1993) Calendars of the World: a look at calendars and the ways we celebrate, One World

Covers a diverse range of calendar systems.

Whitaker's Almanac (Annual), A&C Black, 1868–

This has a section called ‘Calendar for any year 1780–2040’, in which the day of any week of any year can be identified.

Time zones

As well as using Whitaker's Almanac for time zones, you can take a look at some of the following:

WorldTimeServer.com enables you to type in any country or major city to find out the current time. It also has a Time Zone converter,

www.worldtimeserver.com.

Greenwich Mean Time

www.greenwichmeantime.co.uk

This enables you to know the current time in the world's major cities and every country in the world. It also explains Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).

Anniversaries and birthdays

Whitaker's Almanac has a section on wedding anniversaries and you could use www.hintsandthings.co.uk/library/anniversary.htm, which provides a list of anniversaries and the particular items associated with them.

There are many birthday sites to choose from and they tend to come and go. The celebrity birthday list, www.celebritybirthdaylist.com, also has an interesting section called ‘This Day in History’, which gives one major event for a particular date and lists of famous birthdays and deaths throughout history. Very addictive.

Discoveries, inventions and How things work

Typical questions

Considerations

Contrary to popular belief, it is not always easy to find out who or when discoveries or inventions were made! Of course, this is not true for all. This is a subject that could take the enquirer to all sorts of detail, in which case it is important to consider how much is required for the specific question.