In some formal contexts, it is common to refer to dates not only by the Gregorian calendar but also by a count of years starting from a certain event. For instance, American presidential proclamations are dated by the years of the independence of the United States; British formal documents are often counted by reference to the regnal year of the current monarch.
The starting point of such eras is usually not January 1. How does this affect the count of the years? Does a new year, for the purposes of this count, begin on the anniversary of the starting point (e.g., July 3, 2025 would be in the 249th year of American independence and July 4, 2025 in the 250th year? Or does the count coincide with the Gregorian calendar, so anything from January 1 to December 31, 2025 would be in the 249th year because 2025 contains the 249th anniversary of independence? The former would be more historically correct, but the latter avoids an awkward change of the year in the middle of a calendar month and is easier to convert.
Is the exact starting date so important? For example, the current Emperor of Japan is Naruhito. He ascended the throne in 2019 (not in January…), so 2025 is Reiwa 7.
The Gettysburg Address was Nov 19 1863, so clearly Lincoln was counting a non-calendar year starting in the middle of 1776 as his reference point, not Jan 1. But “four score, seven years, and 138 days ago” doesn’t roll off the tongue as well.
If you’re asking about alternative calendars, they have their own reckoning which (usually) doesn’t match Gregorian, so January 1 or whatever name used for the same day is just an arbitrary day. But they may be used alongside Gregorian or Julian.
For example, I would say that I am in my 89th year and will be until the day I actually reach 89. That day (should I live so long) will be the first day of my 90th year.
Most examples I’ve seen adhere to the starting day alternative.
Trump’s military parade was on the 250th anniversary of the founding of the U.S. Army. The 250th anniversary of the United States will be celebrated on July 4, 2026 (despite being 13 years too early: can anyone give the date of the first Congress off the top of their heads?). Nevertheless, all of 2026 will be celebrated as the 250th anniversary, just as 1961 was celebrated as the Civil War centennial.
I don’t remember any style guide advice on this, and I suspect it’s highly variable depending upon individual examples and context. Although some cultures designate age as years since the year of birth, western culture doesn’t roll over your birthday until the actual day. 9/11 and 12/7 will always be celebrated on those dates. OTOH, we say it’s been 116 years since William Howard Taft became president and 95 years since he died, with no one caring about the individual days.
Congratulations, Hari, you’ve long outlived your namesake!
One of the best contemporary criticisms I’ve read on Foundation was that it took place thousands of years in the future in a vastly advanced society yet Hari Seldon died of old age at 81.
I would assume every year count in such situations counts from the inception/anniversary date just like ages and birthdays. I assume AD (“The Year of Our Lord”) does not simply because the actual Christmas/birth date was not nailed down (sorry, assigned) early on, plus it was overlaid on existing calendars.
At one time, the new year in England started on March 25. I’ve forgotten when they changed to Jan 1, but it was 300-some years ago, I think. I imagine that caused lots of problems, but maybe only to historians who try to nail down exactly when some event occured.
Fun fact: This old practice of starting the year on 25 March, coupled with extra days to transition from Julian to Gregorian, is still the reason why, to this day, the British income tax year starts on 6 April.
Plus I recall seeing some old grave markers for babies in English churches that listed a death date before a birth date - sort of like “June 5,1621 - Feb 18,1621”. Also because the new year started in March, not Jan 1.
One idea I’ve been thinking about is what year it would be for pre-historical events occurred when the number of days in a year was different. We could do that if the first day of the year were when Earth is at perihelion or the day of the vernal equinox; then we would simple count how many of that event occurred since, let’s say, the Chicxulub impact.
I’m not really sure why there would be a need to convert - I just checked a few US presidential proclamations, and they had two things in common - there was something in the proclamation itself that would at least hint at the calendar year
"That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom.
and the last paragraph describes both “years”
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this fourth day of June, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty‑five, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-ninth.
I was actually a bit surprised to see that last paragraph, but I fully expected that nearly all presidential proclamations would have a date somewhere in the body. I don’t know if that’s the case for British regnal dates (although I suspect it is) but according to this regnal years begin on the date of accession.
When I was in school (when dinosaurs still roamed the Earth), school always started just after Labor Day. (First Monday in Sept, for you foreigners.) When I went to college, the start was in late September.
Among US universities, I’ve noticed that those on semester systems (fall and spring semesters, with optional shorter-term summer classes) tend to start in August, and quarter systems (fall, winter, spring, optional summer, all of roughly equal lengths) tend to start in September. You can see this e.g. in the Universities of California: Berkeley and Merced are semesters and started August 20, the rest are quarters e.g. UCLA or Davis September 22.