Name George Searle Role Astronomer | Discovered 55 Pandora | |
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Died June 27, 1918, Washington, D.C., United States | ||
George Mary Searle (June 27, 1839 – July 7, 1918) was an American astronomer and Catholic priest.
He discovered the asteroid 55 Pandora in 1858. He also discovered six galaxies. In later life he became a member of the Paulist order and taught at The Catholic University of America.
In 1905 Searle published his idea for a possible reform of the Gregorian Calendar. The plan was to have every new year beginning on Sunday, in order to achieve a perennial calendar. In common years the new calendar would have 52 weeks exactly, or 364 days, with February shortened to 27 days. In leap years, there would be 53 weeks, or 371 days. The extra week would be added as a holiday week, between April and May. Leap years would occur every fifth year, except for years divisible by 50, and except for one other 5th year in 400. The result would be a calendar with 20,871 weeks in 400 years, equal to the Gregorian Calendar.