How come? Because
it actually takes the Earth a little longer than a year to travel
around the Sun 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 46 seconds,
to be exact.
Therefore,
as hours accumulated over the centures, an extra day was occasionally
added to the calendar, and over time the practice became more
or less official.
The Romans first designated February 29 as leap day, but a
more precise formula (still in use today) was adopted in the 16th
century when the Gregorian calendar fine-tuned the calculations
to include a leap day in years only divisible by four - 2012, 2016, 2020, 2024, etc.
Thankfully,
all this intricate plotting will continue to keep us in tune with
the seasons over the next several thousand years.
Leap Day 2024 freebies & discounts
On Leap Day look for
promotional
discounts on
February 29, 2024
In 2024 watch for February 29th to suddenly appear on the radar of marketers offering Leap Day sales and specials.
Last leap year, for example, Krispy Kreme delivered free donuts to dozens of hospitals who delivered leap day babies on February 29.
Also expect restaurants to offer freebies and discounts to anyone born on February 29 with ID.
For everyone else, stay alert for all-inclusive meals on offer for $29.
And, as always, look for 29% percent discounts at local stores and retailers as well as $29 specials everywhere in celebration.
Happy Leap Day!
Born on a leap day?
Leap Day babies: Antonio Sabato Jr. and rapper Ja Rule.
Anyone born on a leap day is known as a "leapling".
According
to astrologers, you were born under the sign of Pisces
on February 29. Owing to the unique day on which you arrived into the world, like other leap day babies you are more apt to go your own way and exhibit an independent streak and optimistic spirit.
While they have to wait every four years to "officially" observe their
birthdays, leap
year babies typically choose either February 28 or March 1
to celebrate their birthday in years that aren't leap years.
Some famous people born on February 29
Born 1976 - Ja Rule, rapper
Born 1972 - Anthonio Sabato Jr., model & actor
Born 1916 - Dinah Shore, singer
Born 1904 - Jimmy Dorsey, bandleader.
Born 1792 - Gioacchino Rossini, Italian opera composer
While leap
day helped official timekeepers, it also resulted in social customs
turned upside down when February 29 became a "no man's land"
without legal jurisdiction.
The tradition
continued in Scotland,
when Queen Margaret declared in 1288 that on February 29 a woman
had the right to pop the question to any man she fancied. Menfolk
who refused were faced with a fine in the form of a kiss, a silk
dress, or a pair of gloves that were given to the rejected lady fair.
A similar
modern American tradition, Sadie
Hawkins Day, honors "the homeliest gal in the hills"
created by Al Capp in the cartoon strip Li'l Abner. In the famous
story line, Sadie and every other woman in town were allowed on
that day to pursue and catch the most eligible bachelors in Dogpatch.
Although
the comic strip placed Sadie Hawkins Day in November, today it
has become almost synonymous with February 29.
A leap year poem to remember it by
Thirty days
hath September,
April, June and November;
All the rest have thirty-one
Save February, she alone
Hath eight days and a score
Til leap year gives her one day more.