People on the internet are known to find things that seem eerie or leave you feeling intrigued. And if you have been mindlessly scrolling social media, you have probably come across a viral Instagram reel which highlights that October 5 to October 14 in 1582 does not exist! If the video seemed edited and you spent minutes scrolling through your calendar to realize, unlike many posts on social media, this is not, in fact, fake news, then STOP before you freak out! There is a perfectly good explanation for the missing days of October 1582! And despite it being the spooky season, the reason is far from spooky! But before we understand why 10 days in October 1582 disappeared, here’s how it all started. Spooky Figure Caught on Camera? Hiker Captures Ghostly Brocken Spectre Walking Alongside Him in Misty Mountains; Viral Video Will Keep You Awake!

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This viral observance began where all chaos begins — on Twitter. This was when people simply asked others to look at the calendar for October 1582 in their Calendar apps! And while it may not stand out initially, once you open the monthly calendar, you can see that the days automatically switch from October 4 to October 15! And thus began the tale of the ten missing days of October. People were quick to flood social media with hilarious memes and factual questions on the technical data of the day! How To Delete an Instagram Account Without Having a Password? Learn How To Retrieve, Delete or Temporarily Deactivate Your Old Account.

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October Calendar (Photo Credits: Instagram)

Well, the reason behind this jump is pretty simple — the world switched from the Julian Calendar to the Gregorian Calendar! Julian Calendar was the prevalent calendar in the Christian world for the first millennium CE and part of the second millennium, which replaced the Roman Calendar. However, since the Julian Calendar was 11 minutes and 14 seconds longer than the tropical year, it drifted a day for 314 years! Due to this, the vernal equinox, which was on March 21, began to fall on March 11! To bring the date of the equinox back to March 21 and ensure the dates of important events remain unchanged, the switch from Julian Calendar to Gregorian Calendar was made!

The missing 10 days helped ensure that the vernal equinox continues to be marked on March 21! But why did it have to happen in October? Well, apparently, there was no apparent reason other than the fact that all important Christain holidays would be preserved by making this switch in October!

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 12, 2022 12:33 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).