Why do have Leap Day? What's a Leapling? Here is what you need to know about Feb. 29.
People never seem to have enough time to get to everything they need to do. In 2024, you have a whole extra day to catch up or just do nothing.
2024 is a leap year. Leap Day is Thursday, Feb. 29.
Why do we have a Leap Day?
Leap Day ensures our planet's orbit remains in sync with the four seasons. The Earth orbits the sun in 365? days, according to timeanddate.com. The quarter of a day, if not compensated for every four years, would cause huge issues with our calendar.
"If there were no leap years, the seasons would completely swap every 750 years, i.e. the middle of summer would become the middle of winter ? calendar climate change," astronomy expert Stephen Hughes of Queensland University of Technology said in a February 2012 (a leap year) article on AsianScientist.com.
How did Leap Day start?
The addition of an extra day dates back to the reforms made to the Roman calendar by Julius Caesar, who was inspired by the Egyptian solar calendar, according to History.com. The Roman calendar, at that time, was based on a lunar system and had a year of 355 days, which was shorter than the solar year. This discrepancy caused the calendar to drift out of sync with the seasons over time. To address this issue, Julius Caesar introduced the Julian calendar, a solar calendar, which included a leap year system. When the Julian calendar was later refined into the Gregorian calendar in 1582, the tradition of adding a leap day to February persisted.
Why is Leap Day in February?
Feb. 29 is the Leap Day every time there is a leap year because February is the shortest month, typically having only 28 days while every other month has 30 or 31 days.
Leap Day's history with love and marriage
According to history.com, Leap Day has many customs that revolve around romance. One tradition, which St. Patrick started in 5th-century Ireland, holds that Feb. 29 was the only day women could propose to men, leading to the day being known as Bachelor's Day. In a fun twist added by the British, if a man rejected the proposal, he owed the woman several pairs of fine gloves.
In Greece, it's considered bad luck to get married on Leap Day. That said, for forgetful people, you have to remember your anniversary only once every four years.
What are Leaplings?
Leaplings are people who are born on Leap Day. The chances of being born on Leap Day are 1 in about 1,500.
There are a handful of celebrities who were born on Leap Day. The list includes entertainer Dinah Shore, musician Jimmy Dorsey, actor Dennis Farina, rapper Ja Rule and Olympic gold medalist Cullen Jones.
For those 20-year-old Leaplings, although you were born in February, you cannot legally drink in the United States until March 1.
Saman Shafiq and Amanda Wallace contributed to this story.
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This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Why do have Leap Day? What you need to know about Feb. 29.
