On This Day: October Revolution

Today is the anniversary of the October Revolution... Wait a minute. Isn't it November?

No, we aren't late or mixed up with our dates. The reason for the November date is because our calendar is a little different than the one used in Russia in 1917.

According to their calendar, the date of the October Revolution is October 25th.

Confused now?

Hopefully this will help clarify a few things.

The calendar we use today is the Gregorian calendar, replacing the Julian calendar (in place since 46 BC, when Julius Caesar was running around). In the 1500s, it was found that the Julian calendar 10 days out of sync with the sun! (Apparently at about 11 minutes per year, from 46 BC to 1500 AD).

So, in 1582, Pope Gregory XIII replaced the Julian calendar with a calendar that he--yep, you guessed it--named after himself!

So what happened on October 25/November 7, 1917?

The October Revolution. The storming of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg. The Russian Provisional Government overthrown by the Bolsheviks. Leading to the Russian Civil War (1917–1922). Whites versus Reds.

And the eventual creation of the Soviet Union in 1922.

Why are we telling you all this. Because this is the world in which our feature film, Under Jakob's Ladder, finds itself. It's the event that led to the Soviet system that would imprison and kill so many. People like our protagonist, Jakob.

Not a whole lot of fond memories associated with this anniversary for those people...