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The Julian calendar was introduced by Julius Caesar in 46 BC, taking force in 45 BC or 709 ab urbe condita. It was chosen after consultation with the Alexandrian astronomer Sosigenes and was probably designed to approximate the tropical year, known at least since Hipparchus. It has a regular year of 365 days divided into 12 months, and a leap day is added every four years, hence the average Julian year is 365.25 days. The calendar remained in use into the 20th century in some countries and is still used by many national Orthodox churches. However with this scheme too many leap days are added with respect to the astronomical seasons, which on average occur earlier in the calendar by about 11 minutes per year, causing it to gain a day about every 128 years. It is said that Caesar was aware of the discrepancy, but felt it was of little importance. In the 16th century the Gregorian calendar reform was introduced to improve its accuracy with respect to the time of the vernal equinox and the synodic month (for Easter). Sometimes the reference Old Style or O.S., as opposed to 'New Style' for the Gregorian Calendar, is used when there is a confusion about which date is found in a text.

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