Leap years keep our calendars in check! Allow us to explain why leap years are necessary and share some of the fun folklore surrounding them. Show
What Is a Leap Year?Simply put, a leap year is a year with an extra day—February 29—which is added nearly every four years to the calendar year. Why Are Leap Years Necessary? Adding an extra day every four years keeps our calendar aligned correctly with the astronomical seasons, since a year according to the Gregorian calendar (365 days) and a year according to Earth’s orbit around the Sun (approximately 365.25 days) are not the exact same length of time. Without this extra day, our calendar and the seasons would gradually get out of sync. (Keep reading for a longer explanation.) Because of this extra day, a leap year has 366 days instead of 365. Additionally, a leap year does not end and begin on the same day of the week, as a non–leap year does. How Do You Know If It’s a Leap Year?Generally, a leap year happens every four years, which, thankfully, is a fairly simple pattern to remember. However, there is a little more to it than that. Here are the rules of leap years:
If a year satisfies both the rules above, then it is a leap year. When Is the Next Leap Year?Leap YearLeap Day2024Thursday, February 292028Tuesday, February 292032Sunday, February 292036Friday, February 29Why Do We Need Leap Years?The short explanation for why we need leap years is that our calendar needs to stay aligned with the astronomical seasons. One orbit of Earth around the Sun takes approximately 365.25 days—a little more than our Gregorian calendar’s nice, round number of 365. Because the calendar does not account for the extra quarter of a day that the Earth requires to complete its orbit around the Sun, it doesn’t completely align with the solar year. Because of this .25 difference, our calendar gradually gets out of sync with the seasons. Adding an extra day, aka a “leap day,” to the calendar every 4 years brings the calendar in line and therefore realigns it with the seasons. Without leap days, the calendar would be off by 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 45 seconds more each year. After 100 years, the seasons would be off by 25 days! Eventually, the months we call February and March would feel like summer months in the Northern Hemisphere. The extra leap day adjusts this drift, but it’s not a perfect match: Adding a leap day every four years overcompensates by a few extra seconds each leap year, adding up to about three extra days every 10,000 years. What Is a Leap Day? And a Leapling?A “leap day” is the extra day in the leap year: February 29. A “leapling” is a person born on a leap day. Any leap day babies out there? We’d love to hear from you in the comments below! Leap Year Facts and Folklore
Are Leap Years Bad Luck? Many feel that to be born on Leap Day, thereby becoming a “leapling,” is a sign of good luck. In some cultures, it is considered bad luck to get married during a leap year. We don’t know of any evidence supporting that marriage theory, but we do know that during leap years:
By the same token, also in leap years:
Do you have any leap year memories? Are you a Leapling yourself? Please share in the comments below! Calendar Holidays The Earliest Spring of our LivesSpring 2020: The Earliest Spring in Over 100 YearsWhen Do the Seasons Start and End in 2023?Lunar New Year 2023: The Year of the RabbitSummer Solstice 2022: The First Day of SummerFull Moon Names for 2023Get Almanac’s Daily UpdatesFree Email NewsletterEmail Address BONUS: You’ll also receive our free Beginner Gardening Guide! ADVERTISEMENT CommentsAdd a Comment Bonnie (not verified) 1 week 1 day ago My Great Dane " Summer" is a Leapling ! Yes she is good luck :)
Casey (not verified) 2 months ago My baby. My son was born on Najah Tamargo (not verified) 2 months 3 weeks ago My nephew was born 2/29/2000. So, naturally, we usually celebrate on the 28th. As he got older (and smarter) he turned it to a double luck year....so he gets a birthday on the 28th AND 29th when Leap Year rolls around🤣🤣🤣 Louise (not verified) 3 months 4 weeks ago I was married on leap day and me and my husband have been married for 38 years strong. Phd (not verified) 9 months 3 weeks ago Is there a way to hide or remove the "Add new comment" link? I've searched around and can't seem to find a good solution for this. I've tried adding some PHP code into the template file for my theme, but that didn't work. |