Did you know that the French revolutionaries introduced a new calendar after the French Revolution? The day they abrogated the monarchy was pronounced as the first day of “An I de la République”. Every month lasted for 30 days, divided into three decades of ten days. The twelve months were named after the seasonal occurrences like Brumaire, Ventôse or Germinal. There was even an endeavour to rearrange the time of day into 10 hours per day, 100 minutes per hour and 100 seconds per minute.

The French Revolutionary Calendar’s success was short-lived, it was only used for a few years from 1792 until 1805. But still; imagine how sure they must have been of themselves and their cause, to think that they could reinvent time, reshape its mould and cast it completely new.

Sometimes I wish I too, could reinvent time. Bend it according to my will and fancy, stretch it out and shrink it, name it the way I want it to. But then again, there will probably always be a Napoleon Bonaparte waiting behind the next bend, to remind you of your smallness and change your calendar back to Gregorian.