Leap Year

Here are some fun tidbits about Leap Year.

When is it? An extra day is added to the month of February every four years. This year, Leap Day is on Wednesday, February 29.


Why we need Leap Day: Usually, our year is 365 days long. Except that it's not: A full cycle of seasons is actually 365 days, 5 hours, 49 minutes, and 16 seconds long, or about 365.25 days. Over time, the extra quarter of a day adds up, and without Leap Day, the calendar would be one day out of sync with the seasons. After 30 years, it would be about a week off, and after 100 years, it would be nearly a month off. Bing Quock, the assistant director of Morrison Planetarium at the California Academy of Sciences, explains, "Leap Day is added as a correction to the calendar so that it stays in sync with the seasons ... that way, the seasons start on the same day from year to year to year."


The history of Leap Year: Leap Year has been around for 2,000 years, since Julius Caesar created the 365-day calendar, although Caesar's astronomer, Sosigenes, get s credit for adding an extra day in February every four years.

How to celebrate: Fans of Disney parks will be lining up to take advantage of "One More Disney Day" at Disneyland in California and at Magic Kingdom in Florida, which will be open for 24 hours, from February 29 at 6 a.m. until 6 a.m. March 1. Michele Himmelberg, a spokesperson for Disney, said it's the first time in recent memory that theme parks on both coasts will be open to mark the quadrennial event. She confirmed the rides will run all night. Hey, come in your PJs.

5 Fun Leap Year Facts


1.People who are born on Leap Year are called leapers or leaplings.

2.If you are born on Leap Year, you are automatically invited to be a member of The Honor society of Leap Year Day Babies.

3.In Scotland it is considered bad luck to be born on Leap Year

4.In Greece it is bad luck to marry on February 29th.

5.Leap Year was named after an Archbishop Oswald of York who died on February 29, 992. It is also referred to as St. Oswald’s Day.

Leap Year’s Greatest Tradition
An old Irish legend that has been widely adopted throughout time says that Leap Year is the one day when a woman can propose marriage to a man. This was the premise of the 2010 movie Leap Year. By the way, ladies, if he refuses the proposal he must give you an expensive gift.