|
Why February 29th is Leap Day |
| How is it that February 29th is the reason that a season comes at the same time each year? |
- Join - Honor Roll - Update - LEAPzine - Buy Leap Gear - Contact Us - About Us -
| Leap Seconds |
| Some years are longer than others. This is mostly due to weather. Every few years, scientists agree to add or remove a second from a year right at midnight on January 1st or July 1st. This is called a Leap Second. |
| Leap Moons |
| Many countries use a lunar calendar to celebrate religious holidays. Whenever the lunar calendar falls behind the solar calendar by more than a moon month, a Leap Moon Month is added to the lunar calendar. |
| More Facts |
| You will find more facts, and even fun facts about Leap Year Day at our LEAPzine. |
| A Year Is Not 365 Days | |
| The earth's year is 365.24219 days long. That's how long it takes the Earth to make one cycle around the sun, and through seasons. Until Julius Caesar proclaimed every fourth year a Leap Year, calendars were a mess. If you lived long enough, you could experience your birthday in two or three different seasons. | |
| Now the calendar is pretty orderly, but a small minority of people don't get a birthday during most years. We can thank these guys: | |
 |
45 BC: Emperor Julius Caesar proclaims the last day of February as Leap Year Day, skipping it three out of four years. Back then, February 30th was the last day of the last month of the year, which is why he picked it. |
 |
4 AD: Emperor Caesar Augustus corrects a counting error in Leap Years. He also gets the month of August named after him, and steals the last day of February so that August can have 31 days, just like Julius' month. Now February has 29 days in Leap Years. |
 |
1582: Pope Gregory XIII, moves the end of the year to December 31st, and makes century years leap years if they are divisible by 400. (So 2000 is a leap year, but 1900 was not.) He moved the end of the year back two months so that Easter would occur in the spring. |
|
Photos of emperors are
©
1995 Justin D.
Paola |
|
Copyright © 1997 -
2008
The Honor
Society of Leap Year Day Babies
Please send comments by email to us.
January, 2008