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Thousands of years ago, ancient Greek astronomers calculated that the track of the Earth’s axis is constantly, even if in a very slow way, shifting in a uniform pattern. The variation is very similar to the manner a spinning top slowly leans one way and then another as it slows down. It is a wobble that happens as its axis alters direction.

This odd movement of the planet is due to several factors, the most important of which is something called ‘precession’. Precession stems from the fact that the Earth is not a perfect sphere. It is in fact about twenty-seven miles longer around the Equator that it is around the Poles. The Earth then is oblate, or fat around the middle like middle-aged spread, but it is due to the spinning not to its age.

If you picture the Earth with its Poles off centre. Then rotate that image and you will find that any point, except the very centre of the axis, will travel in a circle. But very, very gradually. So slowly that it takes 26,000 years to go full circle and get back to where it started from.

This point then, any point you want, is very gradually shifting its position in relation to the stars because the axis is rotating too. The result of this is that, what we call the North Star (formally known as Polaris, which is actually one degree off true North) will not be above our North Pole one day. In fact, by about 15,000 AD, Vega will be almost above the North Pole, although it will be about four degrees off true North. But even this will not last, and by 28,000 AD, Polaris will be back above where it is nowadays.

One of the effects of the precession is that seasons change. They modify the dates that they take place, so that Summer could come earlier or later. The amazing thing about our calendar is that it is corrected for that (with the leap year). If it were not, the vernal or Spring equinox would move over 13,000 years from March 21st to September 21st., which is the date of the autumnal equinox, precisely half a year later.

It is for this reason that the precession of the Earth is generally referred to as the “Precession of the Equinoxes”. Although the precession of the equinoxes is very lengthy, it can be readily observed. The correct year of 325.25 days is the length of time from one vernal equinox to the next vernal equinox, however, it takes 20 minutes and 24 seconds longer for the Sun to appear in exactly the same place in relation to the stars behind it over the same period, which is why accurate star maps have to be stamped with the exact time and date to which they relate.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with researching Franklin planner pages. If you have an interest in calendars, organizers or promotional calendars, please go over to our website now at Promotional Desk Calendars

Even if you were to invent something earth-shattering, you would not earn any money out of it if you left the invention on your desk. The only way you can turn a profit from it is by selling it and in order to accomplish this, you have to inform people that it exists, that it is for sale and where they may get it from. In other words, you have to advertise it.

The US Patents Office has issued thousands patents for products that never made it and many of those did not make it, not because they were not excellent concepts, but because their inventors did not know what to do with them. A business is more or less the same as a new invention. It has to be marketed, unless it is situated in the middle of the only street in town.

Having already started the business, it is to be hoped that, you have already worked out your intended market and evaluated the need for your goods or services. Now you have to convert those potential customers into satisfied customers and this is where your promotional strategy comes in.

A promotional strategy is nothing more than a for reaching your intended market, which is of course the people most likely to require your services or products. At its simplest, your promotional strategy might consist of just hanging a sign over your door and relying on word of mouth from satisfied customers to circulate, so doing your advertising for you.

In some cases, this is indeed all the advertising a business requires, but the cases are not that widespread really. It works, if you are operating in a very small town or if your product or service is unique or very specialized or if you enjoy a long-standing good reputation. However, usually, customers require more details to go on before they will be attracted to your business.

Therefore, the goal of your promotional strategy should be to reach the greatest number of potential customers by the most economical use of your resources, which may include money, personnel and facilities. This means that you have to divine the channels of communication most used by your potential customers and try to connect with them through those. This is normally constrained by a budget.

Advertising involves the purchasing of time or space in the media you have selected in order to market your business to your intended market. You then have to come to a decision which form of advertising you are going to use: institutional or product advertising. Institutional advertising promotes the firm’s name as in: ‘Larry’s Boot Shop - The Best In Town’, whereas product advertising is more specific and might read: ‘Nike Walking Boots - 30% off at Larry’s. Offer Finishes Friday!’

Both forms of advertising can be successful and lend themselves better to some media than to others. Institutional advertising is better done on shop signs, sign-written vans or windows or promotional calendars, that is, static, long-term, business name advertising and product advertising is better done by newspaper, magazine, radio and TV, where one-off special offers can be promoted.

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with researching promotional wall calendars. If you have an interest in calendars, organizers or promotional calendars, please go over to our website now at Promotional Desk Calendars

Christmas - is the celebration of Jesus’ birthday. Although the precise date of his birth is unknown, December 25th was most likely selected because it coincided with a pagan mid-winter festival. The ‘Twelve Days Of Christmas” mark the days between Christmas and Epiphany (January 6th), which was the day of the wise men’s visit.

Easter - is the most important day in the Christian calendar, because it celebrates Christ’s Resurrection, which gave / gives Christians the hope of salvation and eternal life. Easter always falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal (Spring) equinox, which is on 21st March.

Shrove Tuesday - (Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday) was originally a day of penance, but is now marked by merrymaking. It is the day before the beginning of Lent.

Ash Wednesday - is derived from the marking of a cross on the forehead of believers with the ashes from the burnt palms used on Palm Sunday.

Lent - 40 days of atonement and fasting

Palm Sunday - the Sunday before Easter, celebrates the entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem, where palms were strewn on the road before him.

Maundy (Holy) Thursday - the day of the Last supper.

Good Friday - is the day of Christ’s crucifixion.

Holy Saturday - is the day before the Resurrection.

The Annunciation - March 25th is celebrated by Catholics as the day that Archangel Gabriel told Mary about her impending pregnancy.

Trinity Sunday - is celebrated by some denominations in honour of The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit. It was declared part of the holy calendar in 1334 by Pope John XII.

Corpus Christi - Catholics remembers the presence of the body of Christ on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday.

All Saints Day - this mainly Catholic remembrance is on November 1 and honours all Christian saints.

Advent - a religious season that starts on the Sunday nearest to November 30 and lasts until Christmas Day. It celebrates the birth of Jesus and anticipates his Second Coming. It was once a period of fasting, but now no longer.

Holy Days Of Obligation - are feast days in the Catholic calendar marked by attendance at mass and the avoidance of unnecessary work. There are six in the USA: Solemnity of Mary - January 1: Christ’s circumcision, ie his first shedding of blood Ascension - 40 days after Easter Assumption - August 15: Mary is accepted into Heaven All Saints’ Day - November 1 Mary’s Immaculate Conception - December 8 Christmas Day - December 25.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with Franklin Covey planner refillss If you have an interest in calendars, organizers or promotional calendars, please go over to our website now at Promotional Desk Calendars

It is a worldwide convention to give gifts for such occasions as birthdays and wedding days, but after that is where the countries start to differ. Britons and people tracing their history back there give gifts on Christmas Day as well.

However, many other Europeans give presents at Christmas on Saint Nicholas’ Day or December 6th. Non-Christian countries usually give presents at New Year.

Whatever you do in your country, giving a present requires thought. The stores are frequently full of junk at these gift-giving times of the year, but there is also a lot of good stuff about, at a price. The alternatives are twofold basically.

You can either make something which will be one of a kind, I imagine that this includes personalizing a shop-bought gift or you can think outside of the box, which many people find quite difficult. Personally, I find it hard, but it does get easier the more often you try it and the better you know the person you are going to give the gift to.

Here then are a few ideas which you may decide to take on board ‘as is’, or they may inspire you on to better ideas. As I write, Christmas is coming up and then it is Saint Valentine’s day before you know it. We definitely get plenty of opportunity to practice buying presents in the West!

A Plot Of Your Own: I come from Wales in the UK (is there any other?) and up the way from me a local plot of green-belt land was in trouble. Experts said that it should be planted with trees, but the authorities did not have the funds, so they advertised six feet square plots of land for sale with a sapling of your preference on it.

You also got a title deed, instructions and a photo. Furthermore, the tree would be maintained for five years until it was established. I know that this is not the only place that did this and it was almost certainly not the first either, but it makes a good gift for a teenager who is thinking about what he or she can do to assist the environment.

The Key To Success: some children and their parents will appreciate this one. Scour the second-hand shops for an older or even an unusual money box. Fill the money box up to a certain level with various coins that bring that level up to the value that you want to give, but leave plenty of room for the child to put money in too. Who do you give the key to? That depends on how well you know the child.

Starting A Collection: this is a brave, but good one. If you know the child well or are prepared to take on a commitment (such as a godparent should), you could choose a set of collectables, such as plates, glasses or coins and buy two or three examples to start the collection off. You can add to it every year. Others will be thankful to you too because they will jump on the band wagon.

In The Bag: if your friend is an invalid or just is temporarily in hospital, it is beneficial to give a wicker basket or a nice bag full of handy items. Choose the items to suit your friend, but everyone might like a writing pad, a pen, a comb or brush, wet wipes or tissues, a small book of verse, a miniature radio with ear plugs, a mirror, straws, a bottle opener, only you know, but you get the idea, I’m sure.

Stamp It: you can buy a large packet of literally thousands of foreign stamps for very little. Buy a stamp album and hinges and you could start a lasting obsession. It also gives you gift ideas for years to come too.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with researching Fanklin planner pages. If you have an interest in calendars, organizers or promotional calendars, please go over to our website now at Promotional Desk Calendars

Hereunder is a directory of minor holidays and occasions in the United States. Some of them are virtually unknown, and others are quite obscure.

April Fools’ Day - (April 1): the day for practical jokes (only before noon in the UK). Its origins are obscure, but it bears a similarity to an ancient Roman festival for the goddess of nature.

Arbor Day - (last Friday in April): devoted to trees and their conservation. It is held on December 22 everywhere else in the world.

Armed Forces Day - (third Sunday in May): a day to honour the US armed forces.

Citizenship Day - (September 17): replaced Constitution Day in 1952 by presidential proclamation.

Daylight-Saving Time: was first proposed by Benjamin Franklin in 1784, but became the Uniform Time Act in 1966. It is not observed in Hawaii, the Eastern Time Zone of Indiana, most of Arizona (except on the Navajo Reservation), American Samoa, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Guam.

Election Day - (Tuesday after the first Monday in November): presidential elections are held in years divisible by four and elections for all members of the House of Representatives and one-third of the Senate in years evenly divisible by two.

Fathers’ Day - (third Sunday in June): was first observed in West Virginia in 1908, but this uniquely American holiday was not made official until 1972.

Flag Day - (June 14): was first celebrated in 1877, which was the centenary of the adoption of the modern design. Truman passed the Flag Day Bill in 1949.

Groundhog Day - (February 2): on this day the groundhog looks out of his burrow. If he sees his own shadow there will be six weeks of Winter to follow, otherwise Spring is just around the corner.

Halloween - (October 31): All Hallow’s Eve is the day before the feast of All Saints. It started as a pagan custom honouring the dead and a celebration of Autumn. ‘Trick or Treat’ is purely American with no historical foundation.

Kwanzaa - is a secular observance by African-Americans to commemorate their African heritage. It begins on Dec.26th when a candle in a candelabrum is lit every day for seven days. It was first practiced by Maulana Karenga in 1966.

Mothers’ Day - (second Sunday in May): was thought of by Anne M. Jarvis of Philadelphia as a way for children to pay homage to their mothers. It received presidential proclamation in 1914.

National Maritime Day - (May 22): was proclaimed in 1935 to commemorate the SS Savannah’s first successful transatlantic crossing by a steamship in 1819. It is also a day of remembrance of merchant mariners who died in defense of their country.

National Teachers’ Day - (Tuesday of the first full week in May): is when pupils are meant to honour the teaching profession.

St. Patrick’s Day - (March 17): has been borrowed from Ireland where it is their national saint’s day.

St. Valentine’s Day - (February 14): was initially to honour two saints martyred by Emperor Claudius (214 - 270), but has been dedicated to lovers since the Middle Ages.

Susan B. Anthony Day - (February 15): Anthony (1820 - 1906) worked for women’s rights and suffrage.

United Nations’ Day - (October 24): commemorates the endorsement of the UN Charter in 1945 by the then five permanent members of the Security Council.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with researching Franklin planner pages. If you have an interest in calendars, organizers or promotional calendars, please go over to our website now at Promotional Desk Calendars