Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Happy "Leap" Day...!

From the pages of the Old Farmer's Almanac, I garnered a few interesting facts and folk lore about Leap year. I just knew you were dying to know all the interesting bits of information!

Some of this you may already know and some you may not, but either way you can file it away for future use. Always interesting to find out about where things came from, don't you think?

A "Leap" Day is an extra day on February 29 which is added nearly every 4 years to today's Gregorian calendar.

How Do We Calculate Leap Years?


A year is a leap year if it is divisible by 4, but century years are not leap years unless they are divisible by 400.

So, the years 1700, 1800, and 1900 were not leap years, but the year 2000 was.

Non-leap years begin and end on the same day of the week.


Leap Year Dates

2012 Wednesday, February 29
2016 Monday, February 29
2020 Saturday, February 29
2024 Thursday, February 29

Why Do We Need Leap Years?

The actual length of a year (the rotation of Earth around the Sun) is 365.2422 days. If we didn't have leap years, the seasons would shift about a quarter of a day every year, and after 100 years the seasons would be off by 25 days. The extra leap day adjusts this drift.


Leap Year Folklore

According to folklore, in a leap year, the weather always changes on Friday.

Know a "leapling"? (A person born in a leap year is called a leapling.)

"Leap year was ne'er a good sheep year"


Are Leap Years Bad Luck?


In some cultures, it is considered bad luck to marry during a leap year. We don't know of any evidence supporting this bad luck impression, but we do know that during leap years Rome burned (64), George Armstrong Custer fought the Battle of the Little Bighorn (1876), and the Titanic sank (1912). By the same token, also in leap years, the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, Massachusetts (1620), Benjamin Franklin proved that lightning is electricity (1752), and gold was discovered in California (1848).


Like anything else, this information is only as important as what you make it. You know me, though...I always like the stuff I find in the Farmers Almanac!

Coffee outside on the patio this morning. It's kinda foggy, but we can still listen to the birds singing! Those doves sure do sound nice, don't they?

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

This day every fourth year women had the right to propose to their loved one. If turned down she had the right to get either a kiss or a gift as an apology :-)

Have a great day!
Christer.

Rae said...

And today is my leapling grandson's birthday. Born Feb 29,2000 - his birthday is even more special as the first leap birthdate in the new millennium. Wishing you a great leap day!

HossBoss said...

My grandmother was a leapling ...born Feb 29, 1904. I remember talking to her on her birthday one year when I was just a kid and asking her how old she was ...she answered, 'this is my Sweet Sixteen birthday!' And that's when I learned about leap years. Ha!

Anonymous said...

Happy Leap Day to you to sir, thanks for the post.

Ben in Texas said...

Sure glad you set us straight.I was thinking I had to go do some jump rope exercisers or the like. :-)

HermitJim said...

Hey Christer...
Now that is something I didn't know.

So many customs to try and remember!

Thanks for coming over this morning.


Hey Rae...
I'll bet he gets a special party on his birthday.

Good to see you again, Rae! Been too long.

Thanks for coming by this morning!


Hey HB...
Bet it was a shock to hear that for the first time!

Hope all is going good around your place.

Thanks for coming over today!


Hey Anon 7:32...
Yor are certainly welcome, my friend! It's always my pleasure!

Thanks for coming by today!


Hey Ben...
Now you know I wouldn't do something like that this early in the morning!

Thanks, buddy, for coming by today!

JO said...

Fun Post today.
But the weather part had me wondering if they did it right, We gave had some strange seasons lately.

Happy Leap Year!

HermitJim said...

Hey JoJo...
The weather all over the world is crazy this year! Maybe because of the prediction of the world ending in December?

Enjoy the time at the camp ground!

Thanks, sweetie, for coming by today!

Anonymous said...

happy Birthday to me.
I be a leapling.
You are all invited to celebrate with me on Hermit's patio.
Uh, you ok with that, Hermit?
Annie Mouse

Dizzy-Dick said...

There are also leap seconds. Important in this modern GPS world.

HermitJim said...

Hey Annie...
Certainly OK with me! Any excuse for a patio party is always a good thing!

Happy Birthday to you, my friend!

Thanks for coming over this morning!


Hey Dizzy...
See? I didn't know about the seconds! Learn something new every day!

Thanks, buddy, for coming by this morning!

Bob Mc said...

Also known as Sadie Hawkin's Day. :)

BBC said...

I've never understood why so many monkeys make a big deal out of this day when it is just another day.

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