Sol Calendar

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The 13-month Sol Calendar is a proposal for calendar reform by Jim Eikner of Austin, Texas, providing for a year of 13 months in length, with 12 contiguous months having 28 days each, with the final month of the year, December, having 29. December would have 30 days in leap years.

The months are named the same as they are in the Gregorian calendar, except that a month called Sol is inserted between June and July.

Although every month of the same year begins on the same day of week, the months usually begin on different days of the week in different years. The calendar for every month in the year 2006 and every other year beginning on Sunday is as follows:

Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun
						1
2	3	4	5	6	7	8
9	10	11	12	13	14	15
16	17	18	19	20	21	22
23	24	25	26	27	28	29*
30**

* December 29.
** In leap years December 30 is added. The next leap year beginning on Sunday would be 2012.

In 2007 all months would begin on Monday, in 2008 all month would begin on Tuesday, in 2009 all months would begin on Thursday.

The 13 months occur on the following Gregorian dates:

January  Jan 1 - Jan 28     July      Jul 16* - Aug 12*
February Jan 29 - Feb 25    August    Aug 13* - Sep 9*
March    Feb 26 - Mar 25*   September Sep 10* - Oct 7*
April    Mar 26* - Apr 22*  October   Oct 8* - Nov 4*
May      Apr 23* - May 20*  November  Nov 5* - Dec 2* 
June     May 21* - Jun 17*  December  Dec 3* - Dec 31
Sol      Jun 18* - Jul 15*
* These dates are a day earlier in a leap year

The 13-month Sol Calendar is an adaptation of International Fixed Calendar, which has its roots in the Positivist Calendar created by French philosopher August Comte in 1849.

Comte named months for famous people and also named each day, but Eikner’s calendar does not follow that example.

Eikner's proposal also differs from these other 13-month calendars in that it is not perpetual. In each year, the 29th and 30th days of December move the first day of the January of the following year either one or two weekdays forward in relation to that previous year. However, in any given year, monthly calendars for January through November are identical.

The Positivist and International Fixed Calendars suggest adding "intercalary" days between months or at the end of the year, in order to have each month begin on the same day - year after year. Because these "off-calendar" days are not counted as part of any month or week, they are said to disrupt the ordering of the traditional seven-day week in relation to weekdays. This has led these calendar proposals to face opposition by religious groups who are required to worship on a certain weekday, and also worship every seven days.

[edit] Features and benefits

This calendar is named after its new month, Sol
Twelve contiguous and identical months of exactly 28 days
The thirteenth month of the year (December) has 29 days normally and 30 days in a leap year
This calendar has the same names for the months as the International Fixed Calendar, including the new month, Sol
The new month (Sol) occurs between June and July
Preserves the standard, 7-day week
Preserves Gregorian leap year rule
Almost all professional accounting systems offer a 13-period reporting option. Computer accounting programs will likely be easily adjusted to 13 months
Placing the new month (Sol) at mid-year minimizes the seasonal displacement of the traditional months
Placing the extra day(s) at the end of the year allows all months to be identical for their first 28 days in any given year
Leap years are every four years (in the same years we currently have leap years) and they add a 366th day to December (a Dec. 30), the same number of days the Gregorian calendar adds during a leap year
2006 would begin on a Sunday, 2007 on a Monday
It preserves all of the current month’s traditional names