Merciful 2/Merciful - Disc 2.iso/software/h/historymachinev1.0.dms/historymachinev1.0.adf/History.Doc

Text File | 1996-02-10 | 8KB | 158 lines

The History Machine v.1.00             :             January 1996

Programmed by                                    Harry E. Collier

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     Have  you  ever  let  your  mind wander and wondered what it
would be like to be in this locale at some time in the past . . .
Picture  yourself in the crowd outside the Banqueting Hall at the
Palace  of  Westminster. The silent people stand in thousands far
off.  The steady beat of a tattoo and the pawing of a horses hoof
are  the  only  sounds  to  break  this  strange,  eerie silence.
Soldiers,  horse  and  foot, there heads bent against the drizzle
from  a mournful sky, surround the black scaffold, on which stand
two  masked  headsmen  beside  the  block. There, head held high,
stands Charles Stuart, Bishop Juxon in silent prayer by his side.
It  is Tuesday the 30th January 1649 and England is about to lose
another  King  . . . Or maybe you would just like to know on what
day Aunt Nellie was born.

    Well  this is not a time machine, but it can take you back to
any year you choose, it will tell you whether it was a leap year,
which  English monarch reigned and for how many years, whom he or
she  married,  the  dynasty and any other earth-shattering events
that  took place that month. You can journey into the future, but
of course the historical events table will be blank, this is only
an Amiga!

    Historical  notes  range from 43 AD up until the present. You
will  notice  that  in  the  early days mostly English historical
events  are  mentioned,  but  as  time  goes  by with more modern
communication  systems, world events take more prominence. If you
think  that the early historical data seems sparse in some areas,
you are right, it is, but going back to the early Medieval period
is  fraught  with  uncertainty, you are delving into the mists of
time,  when  our knowledge of events are rather vague. Some early
historical  data  is preceded by an asterisk, this indicates that
the  exact  date  of the event in question is not known. For more
data,  just  have a browse through the Second World War; a little
history  lesson  on  its  own!  The History Machine appears to be
accurate, I have checked most dates that I am able. History books
tell  us  that  William  the  Conqueror  died  on  Thursday,  9th
September,  1087; check! Edward I died on Friday, 7th July, 1307;
check!  Pepys  diary  states,  for  example: 1668. 20th December.
Lords  Day;  check!  And  I personally remember that World War II
commenced on a Sunday! I rest my case.

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     The  program  is simplicity itself to operate. All you do is
type  the  year  you  would  like to go to, press enter, type the
month  and  press  enter. Once you're into the Main screen, the N
and  M  keys retreat or advance a month, the T and Y keys retreat
or  advance  a year. With the judicious use of these keys you can
quickly  jump  to  any date required. When you've finished, press
any  other  key  except  the S and Q keys, and you're back to the
Start  screen.  From the Main screen, the Q key quits the program
altogether,  the  S key takes you to the Search screen, where you
may search forwards from the date of entry through the historical
events  list,  to Abort a search, just press the A key. Searching
takes  time, so if you want to know when Marilyn Monroe was born,
its  best  to  start  in  the present century! The search is case
sensitive.
     Just  a  little  tip.  When using the search facility in the
early  years,  when  entries  in  the  events  list can be rather
sparse,  pressing  S (for search) followed by e (most used letter
of alphabet) and Enter usually brings up the next entry.


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     The figures in parentheses after the name of the monarch are
the number of years they were on the throne.

    I  have allowed Her Majesty the Queen to reign until the year
2026  (in  the  program  only, I hasten to add), this will be her
centennial  year. As I cannot foresee the future, I think this is
the best solution to the problem.

    I  have not included Lady Jane Grey, who was proclaimed Queen
after  the death of adolescent Edward VI. She was but sixteen and
only reigned for 14 days. But 'Bloody' Mary wanted the throne and
took it. Lady Jane Grey was beheaded in 1558.

    Talking  of  short reigns, some of the others didn't fare too
well,  Edwy  (955)  lasted  3  years; Hardicanute (1040) 2 years;
Edward VI (1547) 6 years; Mary (1542) only reigned for 5 years.



                              * * * *



    Just  a  short  note about leap years, some people think that
every  four  years  there's  a  leap year with February having an
extra  day  and  that's  all there is to it. Well it's a bit more
complicated than that:

    In  the  beginning,  the  civil  calendars  of  all  European
countries  had  been  borrowed  from that of Rome. At the time of
Julius  Caesar,  the civil equinox differed from the astronomical
by three months, so that the winter months were carried back into
autumn and the autumnal into summer.

     So Julius Caesar abolished the use of the lunar year and the
intercalary  month,  and regulated the civil year entirely by the
sun.  He  fixed  the  mean  length  of the year at 365¼ days, and
decreed  that  every  fourth year should have 366 days, the other
years having 365.

    The  Julian  method  of  intercalation is the most convenient
that  could  be adopted, yet, as it supposes the year too long by
11  minutes  14  seconds,  the real error amounts to a day in 128
years.  In order to restore the equinox to its former place, Pope
Gregory  XIII (died 1585) directed that ten days be suppressed in
the  calendar; and as the error of the Julian calculation was now
found  to  amount  to  three  days  in  400 years, he ordered the
intercalations to be omitted on all the centenary years excepting
those which are multiples of 400.

    So the rule to apply now is as follows: Every year the number
of  which is divisible by four is a leap year, excepting the last
year  of  each century, which is a leap year only when the number
of  the  century is divisible by 4; but 4,000, and its multiples,
8,000, 12,000, 16,000, etc. are common years. Thus the uniformity
of the intercalation, by continuing to depend on the number four,
is  preserved,  and  by  the last correction the beginning of the
year would not vary more than a day from its present place in two
hundred centuries. I don't think the Amiga will be around then so
we have nothing to worry about!

    In Great Britain the Calendar (New Style) Act 1750 was passed
for  the  adoption  of  the  new  style  in  all public and legal
transactions.  The  difference  of  the  two  styles,  which then
amounted  to  eleven  days,  was  removed  by  ordering  the  day
following  the 2nd September 1752 (which see) to be accounted the
14th  of  that  month, much to the consternation of the populace.
Just think about it! Christmas came early that year, if you had a
birthday  between  the  3rd  and  13th  of  September, you didn't
celebrate it that year.

    In  the  Act  of  1750, they also abolished the dual calendar
system  in  use  before  this date. The civil year began on March
25th  (Old  New  Year's  Day), while the historical year began on
January  1st.  Thus the civil date March 24th, 1653, was the same
as  the  historical  date  March  24th.  1654; and a date in that
portion  of  the  year was written as March 24th, 165¾, the lower
figure showing the historical year. A good example of this can be
seen in Samuel Pepys diary (1660-1669).

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