I just realized that a wall calendar I received as a Christmas present has a feature I have never before seen in a calendar: the weeks start with Monday, ie. Monday, January 3, 10, 17, 24, and 31 are in the first column. The last column is Sunday, January 2, 9, 16, 23, and 30. The calendar was printed in England. Is this a common way for calendars to be set up in England?
Week numbering:
ISO 8061 says that the week begins on Monday, which much of Europe adheres to. However:
Involving weeks beginning on Saturday, Sunday or Monday.
This is just crazy. I say it’s time for another revolution to teach those bastards how to calendar properly. A week should start with a day off.
It’s common, at least in Europe. As a “Christian country”, I’m surprised the US don’t have Sunday as the last day. But I may be confused here, because in the Netherlands, keeping Sunday as the rest day is one of the hobby horses of the Christian conservative types (even though that’s a-historical, if you can call it that).
ETA: found some even more confusing info regarding the sabbath. Always thought “God rested on the last day” was the whole point.
Day-Timers tried that back in the late 80s or early 90s. IIRC, they went to a 6-column week where Sat & Sun shared a space in the 6th column. I think it may still be an option you can choose, but they sure as hell heard from those of us it pissed off when they made it the default one year. I think I even got a full year of inserts free once they’d reprinted them.
I’m not in any way religious, but didn’t God rest on the 7th day? The day represented by a Sunday?
Saturday and Sunday are the weekend. The end of the week. Therefore, the week starts with Monday.
You work for 5 days then take two days off.
I’ve never understood why calendars split the weekend.
Sabbath used to be Saturday, until the Catholic church changed it. See my link above.
Yes, that’s one way of looking at it. Here’s another: A line has two ends. There’s one at this end, and the other is at the other end. Similarly, a week can have a day off at each end.
Brit here and yes, I do find US-style calendars a little awkward. It just makes sense to keep the weekend days together. If you’re scanning through a calendar looking at what events are happening on upcoming weekends, with the US format you have to keep scanning from one side to the other.
I’m an American and I’ve always thought putting Sunday at the begining of the week was stupid. Especially say on a work schedule that isn’t posted until Friday. Most places I’ve worked used Monday-Sunday work weeks and used approriate calenders though. One place I worked did Thursday-Wednesday work weeks. That was confusing.
This thread discusses other countries that put Monday as the first day of the week on the calendar
Then you should start calling it the ‘weekends’. And then there can be a whole lot more confusion regarding which one you’re talking about.
This. Another American here who prefers calendars that start on Monday. Back when I worked an office job (9-5, M-F), it was easier to block out my weekend activities, and quickly review them, if Saturday and Sunday next to each other. They belong together. It makes no sense splitting them.
My Google calendar starts on Monday. I find it confusing to look at Sunday-starting calendars. I say the Europeans got this one right.
I’ve learned my lesson about buying calendars in Europe without examining them first . . . although their system makes more sense to me. So does their referring to dates by day/month/year (though year/month/day makes even more sense and is easier to sort).
There’s always the pointless calendar! Thanks to Weird Earl’s!
And I am on for the “starting on Mondays too”. Maybe we should rename the days. Use Locrian for Thursdays. 
I had a calendar like that and I hated it. I like my calendars old-school.
Saturday ends the week because it is the Sabbath (as recognized by the people who actually have a Sabbath), and the Sabbath is on the seventh day. And Jesus came back to life on the first day of the week, according to all biblical accounts.
Monday first calendars have been around the USA for a couple decades. I always picked the Sunday first calendars from the stack of free ones at work so I didn’t have to hear how my calender was wrong.
Ah! That’s why my London calendar starts Monday first. Thanks - I was thinking the same thing.