Calendars and time
Old Style Date
Direct answer
Old Style Date: An Old Style Date is a historical date labeled under the calendar or year-start convention in use before a later civil reform, often the Julian calendar in English-language records.
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At a glance
- Found in
- Calendars & Timekeeping
- Related
- Year Zero, New Style Date, Calendar, Julian Date
An Old Style Date preserves a pre-reform calendar convention.
A cycle or timeline schematic for comparing the named timekeeping concept.
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The story behind Old Style Date
Britain and its colonies used Old Style notation around the 1752 change from Julian to Gregorian dating and the January 1 new year.
Why Old Style Date matters
Old Style Date explains why a single event may appear under two dates in historical works.
Old Style Date in practice: an example
A British record made before the reform can require both a calendar-date shift and a year-number adjustment.
Where readings of Old Style Date go wrong
It is a mistake to assume Old Style always means Julian; the phrase can refer to different superseded conventions in different places.
Sources and editorial method
Research references used for this entry include:
- U.S. Naval Observatory: Introduction to Calendars - Official overview of calendar systems, leap rules, eras, and historical calendar reform.
- Source
- The Great Almanac Dictionary
- Category
- Calendars & Timekeeping
- Last updated
- 2026-09-26
Identify the pre-reform rules
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More in Calendars & Timekeeping
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- Calendar Year
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- Geocentric Coordinate Time
- Intercalation
- Local Apparent Solar Time
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Common questions
What is an Old Style Date?
An Old Style Date is a historical date labeled under the calendar or year-start convention in use before a later civil reform, often the Julian calendar in English-language records.
What do people get wrong about an Old Style Date?
It is a mistake to assume Old Style always means Julian; the phrase can refer to different superseded conventions in different places.
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