Dates

Until September 1752, England was on the Julian calendar, while most of Europe adhered to the Gregorian calendar we use today. Under the Julian calendar, the new year began on March 25. In addition, the two systems calculate leap years differently, so that the Julian calendar falls a bit further behind the Gregorian each year. In 1752, when England switched calendars, it had to skip forward 11 days to catch up to its neighbors; by the time countries like Russia and Greece made the switch in the early twentieth century, they had to adjust by 13 days. So, on the day that a person in England would have dated a letter 1 January 1660, a person in France would have dated a letter 11 January 1661. Sometimes, historians will record both the "Old Style" (Julian) and "New Style" (Gregorian) dates, writing, for example "10/21 January 1665/66" or "12/23 October 1703."

In The London Stage, 1660-1800, the Old Style month and day of a performance are retained, but the year is assumed to begin on January 1, as in the New Style. Consequently, a performance with a full Old/New Style date of "10/21 January 1665/66" is recorded as taking place on "10 January 1666." The London Stage Database replicates the dates from the reference books. Users wishing to compare performance offerings in England with those in other countries should be aware of these dating issues and make the appropriate conversions.