Gregorian Calendar/Mistake

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Source Work

1986: David Wells: Curious and Interesting Numbers:

The Dictionary
$3333$


Mistake

The Gregorian calendar is approximately $1$ day ahead every $3333$ years.


Correction

Using a value of $365 \cdotp 2422$ days per tropical year, it can be established that the Gregorian calendar starts one day later relative to the tropical year after $3333$ years (to the nearest day).


Using the more precise value of $365 \cdotp 24219 \, 878$ days in the tropical year, it is shown in Discrepancy between Gregorian Year and Tropical Year that the number of Gregorian years after which there is a day's discrepancy is in fact $3319$ (to the nearest day).

In Curious and Interesting Numbers, 2nd ed. of $1997$, David Wells uses the more precise $365 \cdotp 24219 \, 878$, to obtain an approximate value of $3320$ such years.


The section $3333$ has been dropped from Curious and Interesting Numbers, 2nd ed. of $1997$.


Sources