John Johnson, age 12, of Sarasota, Fla., for his question:

WHEN WAS THE JULIAN CALENDAR MADE?

The Julian calendar was established in 46 B.C. as a result of an order of Julius Caesar. Prior to that time the Roman religious officials had distorted the calendar so that it differed from the solar year by three months.

The Julian calendar sliced the year into 12 months alternating from 30 to 31 days, except February which had 29. Every four years February was to have 30 days. To readjust the calendar, three extra months were added to the year 46 B.C., making it 15 months long. The first Julian year started on Jan. 1, 45 B.C.

Caesar changed the Roman month Quintilis to Julius Cnow July) in honor of himself. He also made it a 31 day month. Augustus later made his month, August, 31 days long by taking a day from February.