September 3, 1752: This day never happened. Nor did the next ten as England adopted the Gregorian Calendar. People rioted because the government stole 11 days of their lives, but they were never returned!
To be slighlty serious: I have read that it is unlikely people rioted because they thought the government had taken eleven days of their lives. In the book concerned, the argument was made that there was an attempt intially to tax people based on the year, but as the year was eleven days shorter they were being overtaxed by some 3% and that's what the rioting was about. It is also the origin of the odd date that starts the UK tax year.
Now, whether the book was right, I can't be sure, but I always err towards the assumption that people in the past were no stupider than we are.