Solar Empire --Heavens Above

　　Most of the world slowly accepted the Pope's change s, but the Russians only agreed to losing those days in 1917, after their revolution. Yet, by then, their revol ution. Yet, by then, their calendar was so far out of k ilter with the rest of the world, their October revolut ion was actually a November revolution everywhere else. The sun's seasonal cycle gave the world a simple, unifi ed calendar, and yet, when some cultures insisted on in corporating the moon's twenty-nine and a half day month s, inevitably, problems arose.

　　Twelve months only add up to three hundred and fift y-four days.

　　So, the beginning of spring, marked by the equinox in late March, would come later and later, working its way through to September. Only after thirty-two and a h alf years, would spring arrive back in March where it s tarted.

　　"And, while much of the world was intent on perfect ing the basic solar calendar, many ancient religions tu rned to the moon to define their year."

　　The Islamic calendar is based on the cycles of the moon, meaning the month long fast of Ramadan moves slow ly from a summer time observance to winter time, then b ack again over many years.

　　"Because the Christian festival of Easter is timed to the Jewish calendar and the holy days of Passover, w hich are also dictated by the cycles of the moon, the c elebration of Christ's resurrection takes place at a di fferent time each solar year."

　　"In modern India, the Festival of Diwali takes on a spects of the western Christmas, a high point of the ye ar, when presents are exchanged and the countryside gli tters with festive lights. Diwali commemorates the vict ory of light over darkness, and goodness over evil. And , Diwali too, is timed according to lunar cycles. Every autumn, just a few days after the full moon, it moves c losest to a cluster of stars known as the Pleiades. In fact, its true name, Deepawali, means cluster of lights , an obvious reference to the brilliance of the Pleiade s constellation."