Not every country started using the new calendar immediately. Spain, Portugal, and Italy started to use the new calendar on Friday, October 15, 1582, following Julian Thursday, October 4, 1582. In Europe's Protestant countries, people feared that the new calendar was an attempt by the Catholic Church to silence their movement. The England and the rest of the British Empire adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1752; by which time it was necessary to correct by "eleven" days (Wednesday, September 2, 1752 being followed by Thursday, September 14, 1752).