Simple English definitions for legal terms
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New Style: A way of measuring time that was created by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582. It is also called the Gregorian calendar. The old way of measuring time, called the Julian calendar, was a little bit off, so Pope Gregory made some changes. He moved the date forward by 10 days and made some rules about when to have leap years. Leap years happen every 4 years, except for years that are divisible by 100 (like 1900), but they still happen if the year is divisible by 400 (like 2000). This helps us keep track of time more accurately.
Definition: New Style refers to the modern system of ordering time according to the Gregorian method. It was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582 and adopted in England and the American colonies in 1752. The Julian calendar, which was used before the Gregorian calendar, was slightly longer than the astronomical year, causing the vernal equinox to be displaced by ten days. To reform the calendar, Pope Gregory announced that October 5, 1582, would be called October 15. The Gregorian calendar generally retains a leap year for years divisible by 4, but skips leap years in years divisible by 100 (such as 1800 and 1900) and retains leap years for years divisible by 400 (such as 2000). Therefore, the years 2000, 2004, 2008, etc. are leap years, but 2100 is not. New Style is also known as the Gregorian calendar and is abbreviated as n.s.
Example: In 1752, England and the American colonies adopted the New Style calendar, which meant that September 2 was followed by September 14. This change was made to align the calendar with the astronomical year and to correct the discrepancy caused by the Julian calendar.
Explanation: This example illustrates how the adoption of the New Style calendar resulted in a change in the dates. September 2 was followed by September 14, which means that the calendar was adjusted by 11 days to align it with the astronomical year. This change was necessary to ensure that the calendar accurately reflected the changing seasons and astronomical events.