"My situation is a solemn one. Life is offered to me on condition of eating beefsteaks. But death is better than cannibalism. My will contains directions for my funeral, which will be followed not by mourning coaches, but by oxen, sheep, flocks of poultry, and a small traveling aquarium of live fish, all wearing white scarfs in honor of the man who perished rather than eat his fellow creatures."

-- George Bernard Shaw (English playwright. 26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950)

In the Gregorian calendar, the Catholic Church had assigned a saint to each day of the year that were called "feast days." To set up a new secular tradition, the days in the French Revolutionary metric calendar were instead designated to celebrate something from rural life: food, nature, or agricultural events.

Days that ended in 0 (10, 20, 30) were assigned to an agricultural implement. Days ending in a 5 (5, 15, 25) were assigned to an animal. All other days were assigned to a plant, or a mineral.

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