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- Missing event questions:
Why don't you have my favorite event?
We're working to add as many events as possible. If you would like
a particular event added, please let us know by emailing Dave@DaysUntil.com.
For an event to be added, there are a few requirements:
- The event must occur on a date on one of the supported calendars (Gregorian, Hebrew, Chinese, etc.)
- The event must occur on a known date.
- The date of the event must
be on a fixed day or have a relatively simple algorithm
to calculate it (e.g. July 4th, the 2nd Monday of June, etc.)
- The complexity of this algorithm may affect when/if the
event is added. Events that change every year (possibly
because a person or committee decides every year) usually can't be added.
- The event must have a Wikipedia entry. There are at least
two reasons for this. Primarily, it allows us to determine
if the event is real, especially in countries around the world
that we have little knowledge of. Also, all event pages contain
a snippet of the Wikipedia article and a link to the article.
If an article doesn't exist for your event, it's easy to start
one. Presumably you have some knowledge of the event, so you're
the perfect person to help expand Wikipedia, and doing so will
make it much more likely that we will add your
event!
- Date display questions:
Why are there months and years on the Julian Day and Rata Die calendars?
Both Julian Day and Rata Die formats are sequential day numbers and as such don't have
either months or years. The Julian Day and Rata Die numbers for each day on the calendar
can be see by looking at the generated URLs when hovering over each date (usually visible in the
status bar at the bottom of the browser window)
To allow display in a typical calendar format a month/year format needed to be
chosen. There were two goals: a month of around 30 days, and a format that could be relatively
easily converted to and from the standard sequential day number format. Here's what was chosen:
- a 25 day month starting at day 0 and ending at day 25
- a 400 month year
This then means a year is 10000 days long and the format is yyymmxx where:
- yyy is the year
- mm is the month
- xx is broken up into a fractional month and a day of the month
For example October 22, 2008 has a Julian Day number of 2454762. To convert this to a
year/month format: 245 is the year, 47 is the month, 62 is greater than 50 so the fractional month
is .5, and the day is 12. This makes the Julian Day number 245/47.5/12 in y/m/d format.
For example October 22, 2008 has a Rata Die number of 733337. To convert this to a
year/month format: 73 is the year, 33 is the month, 37 is greater than 25 so the fractional month
is .25, and the day is 12. This makes the Rata Die number 73/33.25/12 in y/m/d format.
How is the number of days until an event calculated?
When we talk about the number of days until an event, we naturally round upwards. For
example, on Tuesday we say there are 2 days until Thursday. We do this even on Tuesday evening
when there are only a few more than 24 hours until Thursday begins. DaysUntil.com also rounds
upwards. This behavior can be changed on the preferences page by changing the resolution to show the
number of hours, minutes, and seconds until the event occurs.
Rounding upwards can cause some confusion, when events do not start at midnight. For
example dates on the Hebrew calendar, such as Hanukkah, begin at sunset. On the day before
Hanukkah, DaysUntil.com will display 2 days
until Hanukkah if it is before sunset, and 1 day until Hanukkah if it is after sunset.
This behavior is slightly different for published iCalendar files. Since the subscribers
current time of day is not known, times are ignored. The day that an event begins, no matter
what time, is considered to be the first day of the event and the day before is always shown as
1 day until (e.g. 1 day until Hanukkah will show even after sunset the day before).
Why does Christmas last two days on the Hebrew calendar - Christmas (Hebrew)?
Each day on the Gregorian calendar starts and ends at midnight, not at sunset as
it does for the Hebrew calendar. This means a Gregorian day covers parts of
two days on the Hebrew calendar: from midnight to sunset, plus a few extra
hours from sunset to the next midnight. So any event on the Gregorian calendar
seems to take an extra day on the Hebrew calendar because it ends a few hours late,
at midnight, on the following day. This extra time is made up at the beginning because
the event doesn't start until midnight, after the end of the Hebrew day at sunset. So,
Christmas lasts 1 day, but on the Hebrew calendar it ends at midnight on the
following day and seems to be 2 days long.
Why does Hanukkah last 9 days on the Gregorian calendar - Hanukkah (Gregorian)?
Each day on the Hebrew calendar starts and ends at sunset, not at midnight as
it does for the Gregorian calendar. This means a Hebrew day covers parts of
two days on the Gregorian calendar: a few hours from sunset to midnight, and
from midnight to sunset on the following day. So any event on the Hebrew calendar
seems to take an extra day on the Gregorian calendar because it starts early
at sunset on the previous day. This extra time is made up at the end because
the event ends at sunset, before the end of the Gregorian day at midnight. So,
Hanukkah lasts 8 days, but on the Gregorian calendar it starts at sunset on the
previous day and seems to be 9 days long.
- iCalendar questions:
How do I subscribe to/download an iCalendar event feed?
Every event category has an iCalendar event feed. The easiest way to subscribe is to click
on the  icon in each category
box at the bottom left of every event. You can also download the events instead of subscribing
by clicking on the  icon. There are also subscribe
and download links at the top of every category page.
How do I subscribe to/download an iCalendar countdown feed?
Every event has an iCalendar countdown feed. The easiest way to subscribe is to click
on the icon at the far right
of every event. You can also download the countdown instead of subscribing
by clicking on the icon. There are also subscribe
and download links at the top of every event page.
How do I subscribe to icalendar feeds in Google calendar?
- Right click on a subscribe
icon and copy the URL.
- On your Google calendar page select "Add / Add by URL" from the menu
above the calendar list.
- Paste the copied URL into the "Public Calendar Address" field and click "Add".
- Countdown icalendar feeds show up as countdown icons in Google calendar!
How do I subscribe to icalendar feeds in AirSet calendar?
- Right click on a subscribe
icon and copy the URL.
- Select "Calendar / Subscribe..." from the menu. Click "Next", paste the copied
URL into the "Link to iCalendar:" field and click "Next".
- Select the Airset calendar you would like to add the feed to and click "Finish"
- URL questions:
Can I build my own URLs??
Yes, the syntax is:
http://DaysUntil.com[/event name or category][/index.html?first parameter[&additional parameters]]
For example to build a URL for a specific event or category, simply add it to the http://DaysUntil.com domain name:
There are several optional parameters that can also be added. To specify a parameter, you must add "/index.html?"
followed by the parameter. If you add more than one parameter, they must be separated by an "&" (only the first
parameter is separated from the rest of the URL by a "?").
The possible parameters are:
- date - show events for a specific date
- rdDate - show events for a specific Rata Die date
- showCompleted - show completed events for the current month
- hideCompleted - hide completed events for the current month
What is the syntax to specify a date in the URL?
The syntax is: date=Calendar[-year[-month[-day]]]
Where "Calendar" is required and is one of the following:
- Gregorian
- Julian
- Hebrew
- Julian Day
- Chinese
- Mayan
- Hindu Lunar
- Islamic
- Rata Die
"-year" is optional and must be for the selected Calendar. For example:
"-month" is also optional, but only if the year is also specified. For example:
"-day" is also optional, but only if the year and month are also specified. For example:
If "-month" and/or "-day" are out of their allowed range the an attempt is made to calculate the date desired. This is sometimes useful for limited date arithmetic. For example:
- Misc. questions:
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