Beagan Calendar

Posted: 15 Mar 2022. Last modified on 04-Jun-22.

This article will take about 2 minutes to read.

---

Demo

You can view the final project here. Note that the css transitions are only tested on Chrome at the moment.

Project

This is a possible replacement for the traditional, Gregorian calendar.

I was looking for a project that would allow me to try out alternate web frameworks and css design systems, and settled on creating a calendar. While reading about different calendar systems, such as the fictional Shire calendar and the more historical Irish calendar and French Republican Calendar, I decided to try my hand at creating a calendar myself.

There are a couple things that make this calendar an attractive replacement for the Gregorian one.

It is mostly compatible with the Gregorian Calendar

The biggest feature is that it does not have many changes from the calendar we are used to. Some of the shortest months, like February, have been given additional days, and there are now fewer months with 31 days. However, since there are 12 months of about 30 days, the Gregorian calendar will always be within 3 days of this one.

The biggest change with this calendar is the addition of an extra weekday, either once or twice a year depending on if it is a leap year. This allows the calendar to stop shifting the day of the week, and makes it so that the first day of the year is always the first day of the week.

It is consistent from year to year

• It is perpetual, meaning that the calendar is the same every year.
• The days of the week are fixed. The first day of the year is always on the first day of the week.
• The calendar repeats after each quarter. A 3 month calendar is all that is required.

It can be nearly evenly divided

• There are always either 182 or 183 days in a half.
• There are always either 91 or 92 days in a quarter.
• There are always either 30 or 31 days in a month.

It has a rationale for month length

• The first month of the quarter has 31 days, the second has 30 days, and the third has either 30 or 31.
• In order to evenly space the divisions of the year, the quarters will approximately alternate the length of their last months. The quarters will have their last month be the following lengths:
  1. 30 days long
  2. 30 days long unless it is a leap year, in which case 31
  3. 30 days long
  4. 31 days long

Holidays are evenly spaced

There are 8 holidays marked, which correspond to the 4 solstace events, and the midpoints between them. Since the year is evenly divided, there is a holiday on the 1st day of the second month of each quarter, and a holiday on the 20th day of the third month of each quarter.

1. Candlemas / Spring cleaning
2. Vernal Equinox / Easter
3. May Day
4. Summer solstace
5. Crafting day
6. Autumnal Equinox / Thanksgiving
7. Halloween
8. Winter Solstace / Yule