almanac

Book or table containing a calendar of the days, weeks, and months of the year, with the addition of notices of astronomical phenomena, ecclesiastical feasts, and similar useful information.

Nautical and astronomical almanacs Authoritative almanacs, such as the Anglo-American Nautical Almanac, are published by the governments in most countries and smaller almanacs are compiled from these.

The Berlin Astronomisches Jahrbuch and the French Connaissance des temps contain additional astronomical information. These works are published some years in advance, and contain tables of the predicted positions of Sun, Moon, and planets, and of all the fixed stars used in navigation. Statistics of various kinds are also given.

The principal US almanac is The World Almanac.

History, world The history of the almanac in the East goes far back. The first printed almanac, for the years 1450–61, was that of the Austrian astronomer and mathematician Georg von Purbach (1423–61). This was soon followed by the more important work of the German mathematician and astronomer Regiomontanus (1436–76), which covered the years 1475–1531.

There is also a long history of publication of astrological almanacs containing predictions of political events, natural disasters, and so on, for the forthcoming year. This type of publication includes Old Moore's Almanac and, in the USA, Poor Richard's Almanac. The sale of such works of fiction is now less widespread.