Calendar (New Style) Act 1750
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Calendar (New Style) Act 1750 (also known as Chesterfield's Act after Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield) is an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain (statute chapter book number 24 Geo II c. 23), the long title of which is An Act for Regulating the Commencement of the Year; and for Correcting the Calendar now in Use. It reformed the calendar of England and British Dominions so that a new year began on 1 January rather than 25 March (Lady Day) and would run according to the Gregorian calendar as used in Scotland and the rest of Europe.
Thus, in England the year 1751 commenced on 25 March and ended on 31 December, with 1752 beginning on 1 January. An additional correction to the calendar made by the act to account for the fact the Julian calendar was twelve days behind the Gregorian calendar meant that the 2 September 1752 was followed by 14 September 1752.