Leap year happens every four years. Leap years have 366 days instead of 365 days in a year and was created by Julius Caesar in 45 BC. The Romans originally had a year that consisted of 355 days in a year but to make sure that certain festivities happened around the same season, Julius Caesar created a year that added each year a 22 or 23 day month. To make things seem more complex, he also added days to different months of the year to create a 365 day calendar. Ceasar’s astronomer, Sosigenes, created the calculations for leap year. Sosigenes calculated leap year by adding one day to every fourth year following the 28th day of Februarius (February 29th.)
Why do we need leap years? The reason why we have leap years is to keep our calendar in alignment with the Earth’s revolutions around the sun. The Gregorian calendar, which we use today, has only 365 days in a year. If we did not add a leap day on February 29th, we would lose almost six hours off our calendar every year about every four years. Additionally, our calendar would be off by approximately 24 days.
So how do we calculate a leap year?
- The year is evenly divisible by 4;
- If the year can be evenly divided by 100, it is NOT a leap year.
- If the year is evenly divisible by 400. Then it is a leap year.
A tradition that people practice on leap year is that some women propose to their boyfriends on leap day in Ireland. This old Irish legend started when St. Bridget made a deal with St. Patrick that allows women to propose to men every four years. The purpose of this tradition is that it brings in the balance of the traditional roles of men and women. In Scotland, however, it is believed that those who are born on Leap Day is considered unlucky. Similarly, Greeks uphold a superstition that it is unlucky for couples to marry during a Leap Year, and especially on Leap Day.
Some famous people who have a leap day birthday are
1468 – Pope Paul III
1980 Simon Gagne- Canadian hockey player, NHL player for the flyer’s
1952- Randy Jackson
