Calendar Converter API

v1.0

Last updated: 2021-12-05

Overview

This API provides a quick way to convert a date in one calendar to another. It currently supports 6 calendars.

Supported Calendars

Gregorian Calendar

The Gregorian Calendar is internationally the most widely used civil calendar. It was named for Pope Gregory XIII who introduced it on October 15, 1582. The calendar was a refinement to the Julian Calendar, with the motivation of setting the Easter holiday to a specific date instead of the spring equinox, which naturally drifted dates.

Each year is divided into 12 months, with a varied number of days per month. To account for the drift in seasons, a leap year occurs which introduces an additional day in February. These leap years happen every year that’s divisible by 4, except years that are divisible by 100 but not divisible by 400. For example: 1700, 1800 and 1900 are NOT leap years, but 2000 is a leap year.

Julian Calendar

The Julian Calendar is a calendar introduced under Julius Caesar in 46 BC. It very closely resembled the Gregorian Calendar in that it was comprised of years of 365 days long divided into 12 months. The main difference is that leap years are simply computed every 4 years (no 100-400 year rule). This calendar is still in use by some Orthodox churches (although it is primarily referred to as the “Old Style”).

French Republican Calendar

The French Republican Calendar (or, erroneously, French Revolutionary Calendar) was a calendar created and used during the French Revolution. It was only used in practice for 12 years starting in late 1793 until it was abolished by Napoleon Bonaparte as an effort to reinstate the catholic church within France. This calendar was later picked up, albeit briefly, during the Paris Commune of 1871.

Each year is divided into 12 months (mois), with each month being an equal 30 days long, divided out further into 3 weeks (décades) 10 days long. Every year begins on the autumnal equinox as observed in Paris. The slight variation in seaons required the use of 5-6 additional “Sans-culottides” days. While the calendar was adopted on October 24, 1793 (3 Brumaire, An II), the official epoch was set to September 22, 1792 (1 Vendemiaire, An I) to commemorate the founding of the republic.

To further reduce the influence of the Church, a Rural Calendar was introduced, naming each day of the year after various crops, minerals, animals and work tools to reflect the changing of the seasons.

Maya Calendar

The Maya calendar is not one calendar per se, but rather a system of calendars employed by pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. In many modern communities in Guatemala and Mexico, this calendar is still used today.

The Maya calendar consists of several cycles (or counts) of different lengths. The 260-day calendar, or Tzolk’in, was combined with the 365-day calendar, or Haab’ to form a synchronized cycle lasting for 52 Haab’ called the Calendar Round. To measure periods longer than this, the Maya used the Long Count calendar.

Islamic Calendar

The Islamic calendar, or Hijri calendar, is a lunar calendar currently used in many Muslim countries and also used by Muslims to determine the proper days on which to observing the annual fasting, to attend Hajj, and to celebrate other Islamic holidays and festivals. The calendar consists of 12 months with a year of 354 days. The lengths of the months are determined by the birth of a new lunar cycle, which historically resulted in each month being 29 or 30 days depending on the visibility of the moon. However, certain sects and groups now use a tabular Islamic calendar, in which odd-numbered months have thirty days, and even months have 29.

Hebrew Calendar

The Hebrew (Jewish) calendar is a calendar used predominantly for Jewish religious observances. It determines the dates for Jewish holidays and the appropriate public reading of Torah portions. In Israel, it is used for religious purposes, provides a time frame for agriculture and is an official calendar used for civil purposes.

Persian Calendar

The Persian calendar was officially adopted in 1925. Each year consists of 12 months. The beginning of the calendar is determined by the day on which the March equinox occurs at or after noon at with reference to Iran standard time. Because of this, leap years have no set rule, however an additional day can be added to the last month on years where there is discrepancy.

Indian Civil Calendar

While a plethora of calendars exist in India, the government adopted an official calendar in 1957 to be used for civil purposes. The calendar is comprised of 12 months. The first month, Chaitra, contains 30 days in a normal year and 31 days in a leap year, followed by five 30-day months and then six 31-day months. Leap years occur in the same year as a Gregorian year, so the two calendars are remain synchronized. The calendar begins counting from the start of the Saka era, which occurs on March 22, 79 in the Gregorian calendar.