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Late to the party. I'm Jason Horton. I'm Rebecca Lebe.

And this is Ghost Town.

In 1908, the Summer Olympics were held in London from April 27th to October 31st.

22 countries, or committees, as they're called, participated, though one such committee might have garnered some strange looks, when their shooting team appeared

two weeks late to their own event. This is the story, or legend, depending on who you ask,

of a major historical act of lateness on behalf of the Russian Empire. Let's get into it.

This story, if you can believe it, begins over 2,000 years ago in 46B.C. with Julius Caesar.

Caesar created the Julian calendar, a 365-day calendar that has two types of years,

a normal year of 365 days, and a leap year of 366 days.

The calendar follows a simple cycle of three normal years and one leap year of 366 days. The calendar follows a simple cycle of three normal years and one leap year,

giving an average year that is 365.25 days long.

Following me?

Now, that's more than a solar year value of approximately 365.2419 days,

which means, since its creation, the Julian calendar gains one day

every 129 years, or 3.1 days every 400 years. Oops. As time progressed, the calendar fell

out of sync with the equinoxes, and of course the lunar calendar itself. Before long,

...