Today marks Leon Theremin's 120th birthday... sort of. Some sources list August 15th as his birthday, and others list August 28th. So which is right?
The answer is "both", but there's a catch! As Lydia Kavina explained in a Facebook post:
In fact, Lev Sergeevich was born on 15 August 1896 at the old Julian calendar, which was in Tsarist Russia at that time. After October Revolution in 1917, Bolsheviks declared Gregorian calendar and the country moved over 13 calendar days to synchronize with most of the countries in the West. Therefore, from that point the country celebrated the Day of October Revolution on November 7, Christmas on January 7th and Lev Theremin started to celebrate his birthday on August 28. However, there is one more catch. The difference between Julian and Gregorian calendars in the 19th century was only 12 days, it rose up to 13 days by the beginning of 20th Century. In most European countries in 1896 the date was August 27th…
Not to be outdone by the confusion, Lydia has suggested we celebrate his birthday for the next two weeks!
If Leon Theremin has influenced your life in some way, feel free to post your virtual birthday wishes for him on this thread in our forums.
Happy Birthday Leon Theremin!
