However, many countries around the globe will be joining the Ethiopians in observing this historical and unique event. In Botswana, organisations around Gaborone have therefore grouped themselves to join the Ethiopians in celebrating their millennium, with poetry, exhibitions, music and open lectures by University of Botswana (UB) historians. The event, to be held at the UB open arena on Saturday, is a collaboration between the Botswana Association of History and Arts, University of Botswana History Department, the Rasta Community, Bhingi Vibes Productions, Afroconsiouz, DT Music Incorporated, and the United Nations (UN). The event will be graced by, among others, UB history lecturer Dr Molefi.
The Ethiopians are the only nation using their own calendar as the calendars of the rest of the world are based on the work of the old Egyptian astronomers who discovered, as early as three to four thousand years BC - that the solar or sidereal year lasted slightly less than 365-and-a-quarter days. It was however left to the astronomers of the Alexandrian school to incorporate this knowledge into some sort of calendar, and it was these astronomers who also came up with the idea of leap years. Consequently, the Romans, under Julius Caesar, borrowed their reformed calendar from the Alexandrian science and adopted it for the Western world.
