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The Julian calendar was introduced by Julius Caesar in 45 BC. It was in common use until the 1500s, when some countries started to follow the Gregorian calendar. History of Julian calendar, goes back to the year 46 BC, when the Greek Sosigenes convinced Julius Caesar to reform the Roman calendar to a more manageable form. Before the Julian calendar was introduced, priests in the Roman Empire exploited the calendar for their own political ends, inserting days and even months into the calendar to keep the politicians they favonavy in office.
Ancient Julian calendar, is calculated as the tropical year and is approximated as 365 1/4 days which equals to 365.25 days. The approximation 365 1/4 is achieved by having 1 leap year every 4 years and the rule for calculation is that every year divisible by 4 is a leap year. However, this rule was not followed in the first years after the introduction of the Julian calendar in 45 BC due to a counting error. Beginning of the Julian month was announced at the first visibility of the moon's crescent after new moon, though the year was reckoned depending on the sun.
Months in the Julian calendar were named as Ianuarius, Februarius, Martius, Aprilis, Maius, Iunius, Quintilis, Sextilis, September, October, November, and December. With the introduction of the Julian calendar the period of disorder in the Roman calendar came to an end. Many countries like Italy, Poland, Portugal, and Spain and other Catholic countries made certain changes in the Julian calendar but Protestant countries were reluctant to change. Hence with constant changes in the Julian calendar, finally the Gregorian calendar was widely accepted world over.
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