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[[File:OldMooresAlmanac1862.jpg|thumb|''[[Old Moore's Almanack]]'' is an [[astrological almanac]] which has been published in Britain since 1697.]]
An '''almanac''' (also spelled '''almanack''' and '''almanach''') is a regularly published listing of a set of current information about one or multiple subjects.<ref>{{cite web |
[[File:The Horsford 1887 almanac and cook book (page 1 crop).tiff|thumb|Cover of the Horsford 1887 almanac and cook book, published by [[Rumford Chemical Works and Mill House Historic District|Rumford Chemical Works]], [[Providence, Rhode Island]], US]]
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=== Hemerologies and parapegmata ===
[[File:CIL VI 2305 - Menologium Rusticum Colotianum 05 Iul-Sep Oct-Dec.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The 1st cent. [[Menologium Rusticum Colotianum]], discovered in [[Rome]] and now held by the [[National Archaeological Museum, Naples|Archeological Museum]] in [[Naples]]]]
The earlier texts considered to be almanacs have been found in the [[Near East]], dating back to the middle of the second millennium BC. They have been called generally hemerologies, from the Greek word ''
The Greek almanac, known as parapegma, has existed in the form of an inscribed stone on which the days of the month were indicated by movable pegs inserted into bored holes, hence the name. There were also written texts and according to [[Diogenes Laërtius]], ''Parapegma'' was the title of a book by [[Democritus]].<ref>Lehoux D., ''Parapegmata, Astrology, Weather, and Calendars in the Ancient World'' (thesis), National Library of Canada, 2000; includes a list of surviving parapegmata (plural of 'parapegma') and bibliography.</ref> [[Ptolemy]], the [[Alexandria]]n astronomer (2nd century) wrote a treatise, ''Phaseis''—"phases of fixed stars and collection of weather-changes" is the translation of its full title—the core of which is a ''parapegma'', a list of dates of seasonally regular weather changes, first appearances and last appearances of [[star]]s or [[constellation]]s at sunrise or sunset, and solar events such as [[solstice]]s, all organized according to the solar year. With the astronomical computations were expected weather phenomena, composed as a digest of observations made by various authorities of the past. ''Parapegmata'' had been composed for centuries. Ptolemy believed that astronomical phenomena caused the changes in seasonal weather; his explanation of why there was not an exact correlation of these events was that the physical influences of other heavenly bodies also came into play. Hence for him, weather prediction was a special division of [[astrology]].<ref name="ptolemy">{{cite web |url = http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~ajones/ptolgeog/astroworks.html |title = Ptolemy's Astronomical Works (other than the Almagest) |access-date = 2007-04-16 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070208073111/http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~ajones/ptolgeog/astroworks.html |archive-date = 2007-02-08 |url-status = dead }}</ref>
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</ref> James' brother, [[Benjamin Franklin]], published his annual ''[[Poor Richard's Almanack]]'' in Philadelphia from 1732 to 1758.<ref>{{cite book |last=Goodrich |first=Charles A. |url=https://archive.org/details/livessignerstod02goodgoog |title=Benjamin Franklin |work=Lives of the Signers to the Declaration of Independence |page=[https://archive.org/details/livessignerstod02goodgoog/page/n280 267] |location=New York |publisher=W. Reed & Co. |year=1829 |oclc=2343155 |access-date=2015-04-24 |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref>
[[Samuel Stearns]] of [[Paxton, Massachusetts]], issued the ''North-American Almanack'', published annually from 1771 to 1784, as well as the first American nautical almanac, ''The Navigator's Kalendar, or Nautical Almanack, for 1783''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://nationalheritagemuseum.typepad.com/library_and_archives/jonas-h-brown/|title=New Acquisition: First Masonic Almanac Published in the United States|publisher=[[Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library]]|location=[[Lexington, Massachusetts]]|date=2012-07-24|access-date=2018-12-30|quote=[[Samuel Stearns]] (1741-1809), the author whose name appears on the cover of The Free Mason's Calendar, was a physician and astronomer. In addition to the Free Mason's Calendar, he issued other almanacs, including the North-American Almanack, published annually from
=== Contemporary use ===
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Major topics covered by almanacs (reflected by their tables of contents) include: [[geography]], [[government]], [[demographics]], [[agriculture]], [[economics]] and [[business]], [[health]] and [[medicine]], [[religion]], [[mass media]], [[transportation]], [[science]] and [[technology]], [[sport]], and [[award]]s/[[prize]]s.
Other examples include ''[[The Almanac of American Politics]]'' published by [[Columbia Books & Information Services]],
The [[GPS almanac]], as part of the data transmitted by each GPS satellite, contains coarse orbit and status information for all satellites in the constellation, an ionospheric model, and information to relate GPS derived time to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). Hence the GPS almanac provides a similar goal as the ancient Babylonian almanac, to find celestial bodies.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lifewire.com/gps-almanac-1683312|title=What Is a GPS Almanac?|first1=Fred Zahradnik Freelance Contributor Former Lifewire writer Fred Zahradnik has a long history as a|last1=writer|first2=is considered an expert on all things related to GPS|last2=products|first3=software our editorial process Fred|last3=Zahradnik|website=Lifewire}}</ref>
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