Almanac, << AWL muh nak, >> is a book or pamphlet, usually published once a year, that contains many kinds of information. An almanac often includes a calendar, outstanding dates and events, movements of heavenly bodies, and facts about governments, history, geography, and weather. It may also give figures on population, industry, and farm production.
Almanacs originally provided a calendar of the months, with eclipses, the movements of the planets, and the rising and setting times of the sun, moon, and stars. People believed that this information would be useful to farmers and to navigators.
Many scholars believe that the earliest almanacs contained predictions made by ancient Persian astrologers. Later, almanacs appeared in Rome. The oldest existing copies of almanacs today were written in the 1300’s and 1400’s. Publishers issued almanacs in Britain in the 1600’s to give information about the calendar. These included the Nautical Almanac, for sailors.
Almanacs appeared in colonial America in the 1600’s. They were usually small pamphlets giving calendars, the dates of religious feasts, weather forecasts, and signs of the zodiac (see Zodiac ). Poor Richard’s Almanac was the best known of these early books. Benjamin Franklin first published the almanac for the year 1733. The book had poetry, astronomy information, and lists of court justices and roads. Franklin contributed many proverbs (short sayings) that became widely quoted. See Poor Richard’s Almanac.
In the 1800’s, many governments and newspapers began issuing almanacs. These included food recipes, first-aid advice for injuries and snake bite, weather predictions, and conundrums (short, humorous questions and answers). Gradually, publishers stopped the practice of predicting the weather, except in the Old Farmer’s Almanac, the Farmers’ Almanac, and several local almanacs.
Almanacs today, such as The World Almanac and Book of Facts, contain general information. Almanacs published by groups, such as the United Nations, contain facts, statistics, and documents about many countries. Newspapers, religious groups, business organizations, and certain trades or professions publish almanacs with specialized information.
A book of great value to navigators and astronomers is The Astronomical Almanac, published by the United States Naval Observatory and His Majesty’s Nautical Almanac Office in the United Kingdom. This almanac includes tables and charts about stars, tides, eclipses, latitude, longitude, and weather. Navigation officers of most United States ships use it. Two useful almanacs published in Britain are Whitaker’s Almanack and The Statesman’s Yearbook. They provide general information about all countries in the world.
By the 2000’s, certain almanacs began publishing both an online and a print edition of their book. Almanacs publishing on the Internet included The Astronomical Almanac and The Statesman’s Yearbook.
