Adoption of the Gregorian calendar started to make the change from the Julian calendar and towards the Gregorian calendar in 1700, but it was decided to make the (then 11-day) adjustment gradually by excluding the leap days (29 February) from each of 11 successive leap years, 1700 to 1740. Meanwhile, the Swedish calendar would be out of step with both the Julian calendar and the Gregorian calendar for 40 years; also, the difference would not be constant but would change every four years. This system had potential for confusion when working out the dates of Swedish events in this 40-year period. To add to the
Gregorian calendar to globalization in the 20th century, the calendar has also been adopted by most non-"Western" countries for civil purposes. The calendar era carries the alternative secular name of "Common Era". The Gregorian calendar is a solar calendar with 12 months of 28–31 days each. A regular Gregorian year consists of 365 days, but in certain years known as leap years, a leap day is added to February. Gregorian years are identified by consecutive year numbers. A calendar date is fully specified by the year (numbered according to a calendar era, in this case "Anno Domini" or Common Era), the month