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almanac

The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. | 2011 | Copyright

almanac originally, a calendar with notations of astronomical and other data. Almanacs have been known in simple form almost since the invention of writing, for they served to record religious feasts, seasonal changes, and the like. The Roman fasti, originally a list of dies fasti (days when legal business might be transacted) and dies nefasti (days when legal business should not be transacted), were later elaborated into various lists, some of them resembling modern almanacs.

The almanac did not become a really prominent type of reading matter until the introduction of printing in Western Europe in the 15th cent. Regiomontanus produced one of the famous early almanacs (his Ephemerides ), incorporating his astronomical knowledge. Most early almanacs were devoted primarily to astrology and predictions of the future. Prediction of the weather has persisted in many modern almanacs, but the crude and sensational magic began to disappear early, to be replaced by more or less scientific information. Late in the 18th cent. truly scientific almanacs appeared—notably the British Nautical Almanac (founded 1767; see ephemeris ), which was the inspiration for the American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac (founded 1855).

The popular almanac, however, developed in the 17th and 18th cent. into a full-blown form of folk literature, with notations of anniversaries and interesting facts, home medical advice, statistics of all sorts, jokes, and even fiction and poetry. The first production (except for a broadside) of printing in British North America was an almanac for the year 1639. One of the best colonial almanacs was the Astronomical Diary and Almanack begun by Nathaniel Ames in 1725, and this was the forerunner of the most famous of them all, Benjamin Franklin 's Poor Richard's Almanack (pub. by him 1732–57), which in its title recalled one of the most popular and long-lasting of English almanacs, that of "Poor Robin" (founded c.1662). The most enduring of all American almanacs was first published in 1792 by Robert Bailey Thomas ; it came later to be called The Old Farmer's Almanac[k].

The best types of present-day almanacs are handy and dependable compendiums of large amounts of statistical information. Noteworthy American almanacs include The World Almanac and Book of Facts (first pub. as a booklet in 1868, discontinued 1876, revived 1886), and the Information Please Almanac (first pub. 1947, now the Time Almanac ). There are also useful almanacs devoted to particular topics, such as sports, health care, Native Americans, and specific countries, or designed for specific audiences, such as children.

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"almanac." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"almanac." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-almanac.html

"almanac." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-almanac.html

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almanac

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English | 2009 | Copyright

al·ma·nac / ˈôlməˌnak; ˈal-/ (also, esp. in titles, al·ma·nack) • n. an annual calendar containing important dates and statistical information such as astronomical data and tide tables. ∎ an annual handbook containing information of general interest or on a sport or pastime.

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"almanac." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"almanac." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-almanac.html

"almanac." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-almanac.html

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Almanac

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions | 1997 | | Copyright

Almanac. Especially in China, an annually published lunar calendar containing weather and harvest prognostications, lucky and unlucky days, festival dates and birthdays of the gods, moral maxims, and, most thumbed, a variety of fortune-telling systems. In the West, almanacs were originally connected with astrology, suggesting a rational order in the cosmos.

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JOHN BOWKER. "Almanac." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

JOHN BOWKER. "Almanac." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O101-Almanac.html

JOHN BOWKER. "Almanac." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O101-Almanac.html

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almanac

A Dictionary of Astronomy | 1997 | Copyright

almanac A publication, usually issued yearly, listing predicted dates and times of forthcoming celestial phenomena and positions of celestial objects, along with other information of interest to astronomers, navigators, and surveyors. Examples are The Astronomical Almanac and The Nautical Almanac.

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"almanac." A Dictionary of Astronomy. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"almanac." A Dictionary of Astronomy. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O80-almanac.html

"almanac." A Dictionary of Astronomy. 1997. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O80-almanac.html

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almanac

The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable | 2006 | | Copyright

almanac an annual calendar containing important dates and statistical information such as astronomical data and tide tables. Recorded from late Middle English, the word comes via medieval Latin from Greek, but ultimately is of unknown origin.

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ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "almanac." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "almanac." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-almanac.html

ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "almanac." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-almanac.html

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almanac

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology | 1996 | | Copyright

almanac XIV. — medL. almanac(h) (Roger Bacon, 1267). Its origin remains unknown.

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T. F. HOAD. "almanac." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

T. F. HOAD. "almanac." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-almanac.html

T. F. HOAD. "almanac." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-almanac.html

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almanac

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"almanac." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"almanac." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-almanac.html

"almanac." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-almanac.html

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Free newspaper and magazine articles

	ALMANACS FORECAST VARIABLE WINTER WILL IT BE WARM OR COLD? WET OR DRY?... Newspaper article from: The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA); 10/25/1999
	Almanacs Give Meteorologists a Run for Their Money Transcript from: NPR Morning Edition; 12/22/1994
	Almanac says 'Numb's the word!'.(News) Newspaper article from: Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL); 8/25/2008