You know it’s coming: February 29th. Across the world, 64-year-olds will be celebrating their “Sweet Sixteenth” birthday. These Leap Babies only have to count a birthday every fours years, unlike us mere mortals who age one year at a time.
Leap year occurs every fourth year in the Gregorian calendar. But why? Here are some interesting facts you may not know about this calendar anomaly.
- Leap year is also called an intercalary or bisextile year. Intercalation means to insert an extra day (or, in the case of lunar calendars, up to a month) into the calendar. But why ‘bisextile’? It’s complicated. Julius Caesar designated his extra day as a “repeat” of February 24th, or the sixth day before the first day of March. So, Caesar’s leap day was the second (bi) sixth day (sextile) before the first day of March or, in Latin, ante diem bis VI Kal. Mar. Fun, no?
- Leap Year occurs every fourth year because the Earth takes about 365.25 days to orbit the sun. And because 0.25 day times 4 equals 1 day, we add a day to recoup that partial day we discounted each year before.
- Ladies may get down on one knee. According to British tradition, women may only propose marriage on February 29th. Or February 24th (sextile day). The rationale here doesn’t hold up, but it sure is fun!
- In Greece, marriage during a leap year is considered unlucky. At least, you’ll see this statement spouted without attribution around the web. Some sites say as many as one in five Greek couples avoid marrying in a leap year.
- Leap years always are divisible by four. But if a year’s also divisible by 100, it’s not a leap year unless it’s evenly divisible by 400. Lotsa math involved in calculating leap years, as you can see.
- The Chinese Leap Year differs entirely from the Gregorian version. The Chinese add an entire extra month, not merely a day, but they only do it every three years. The last Chinese leap year occurred in 2006.
- Born on leap day? When’s your legal birthday? People born on February 29th usually choose to celebrate on either the day before or after their actual birth date. However, local laws govern when a “leapling” may celebrate his or her birth anniversary. In China, for example, a leapling’s legal birth date is February 28th; in Hong Kong, it’s March 1st.
- In 2012, February 29 marks International Rare Disease Day. According to the Rare Disease Day website, a disease is defined as ‘rare’ when it strikes fewer than 1 in 2000 people in Europe or fewer than 1 in 200,000 in the U.S. Rare diseases tend to attract fewer research funds because the financial incentive to treat or cure a rare disease is low. Rare Disease Day raises awareness and funds for research into a plethora of uncommon health conditions.
So there you have it. Millennia after its inception, February 29th remains steeped in tradition and superstition. If you’re a leapling, celebrate in style. If you’re a woman, go ahead and propose. And if you’re feeling charitable, support Rare Disease Day. Help give those with incurable illnesses many leap years to come.
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