Wednesday "Germanic Mercury". The Latin name dates to the late 2nd or early 3rd century. It is a calque of Greek ("heméra Hérmou"), a term first attested, together with the system of naming the seven weekdays after the seven classical planets, in the "Anthologiarum" by Vettius Valens (c. AD 170). The Latin name is reflected directly in the weekday name in most modern Romance languages: "Mércuris" (Sardinian), "mercredi" (French), "mercoledì" (Italian), "miércoles" (Spanish), "miercuri" (Romanian), "dimecres" (Catalan), "Marcuri" or "Mercuri" (Corsican). In Welsh it is Dydd Mercher, meaning Mercury's Day. The German name for the day, "Mittwoch" (literally: "mid-week"), replaced the
Three-Day Week the Tories said they had all the answers?" The Conservatives ran against Labour Prime Minister James Callaghan who on his arrival back from a conference in Guadeloupe played down the crisis. The Conservatives' message prevailed, and Margaret Thatcher became prime minister. Their main campaign slogan was "Labour Isn't Working". Three-Day Week The Three-Day Week was one of several measures introduced in the United Kingdom by the Conservative Government to conserve electricity, the generation of which was severely restricted owing to industrial action by coal miners. The effect was that from 1 January until 7 March 1974 (also the same month