Facts about French Revolutionary Calendar
- 11
Playwright Fabre d'Églantine assigned each of the 360 regular days a unique name honoring plants, animals, minerals, or farm tools, replacing traditional Catholic saints' days.
- 10
In 1794, the French Revolutionary Calendar introduced Complementary Days called the sans-culottes, 5 or 6 extra days positioned between Fructidor and Vendémiaire to align the 10-day week system with the solar year.
- 09
Midnight in the French Revolutionary Calendar occurred at noon in standard timekeeping, as the day began at actual midnight but Revolutionary hours reset at noon for astronomical observation purposes.
- 08
Primidi through Decadi designated the ten days of each French Revolutionary week, with names derived from Latin numerals to emphasize the calendar's rationalist philosophy.
- 07
Napoleon abolished the French Revolutionary Calendar in 1806, reinstating the Gregorian calendar after the system had failed to gain widespread public acceptance beyond Paris.
- 06
A decimal system of hours divided each day into 10 units of 100 minutes each under the French Revolutionary Calendar, making one Revolutionary minute approximately 86.4 conventional seconds.
- 05
Year 1 of the French Revolutionary Calendar began on September 22, 1792, the date of the proclamation of the First French Republic, establishing a new epoch for timekeeping.
- 04
Each month in the French Revolutionary Calendar contained exactly 30 days, with 5 or 6 additional days called sans-culottes added at year's end to complete the 365 or 366 day cycle.
- 03
Robespierre's fall on 9 Thermidor Year II (July 28, 1794) became known as Thermidor, a term later used to describe the counterrevolutionary period ending the French Revolutionary Calendar's adoption.
- 02
The French Revolutionary Calendar's months were named after natural phenomena, with Vendémiaire marking the grape harvest and Thermidor representing heat, reflecting the season of each period.
- 01
Ten days composed each week in the French Revolutionary Calendar, which replaced the Gregorian calendar from 1793 to 1805 during the Revolution.