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Did
You Know?
• The Romans were the
first society to create leap years by
adding a day to their calendar every
four years. Known as the Julian
calendar, it was named for Julius
Caesar, the emperor who decreed it in 46
BC.
• A solar year (the
length of time it takes for the earth to
orbit the sun) equals 365.2422 days,
slightly more than the 365 days in the
calendar. Adding one day every four
years almost made up for the difference.
• With the extra day,
the solar calendar equalled 365.25 days,
which was just slightly too long. By the
16th century, there was an accumulated
discrepancy of 10 days since the days of
Julius Caesar. This created a problem
when determining dates for holy days
such as Easter, which was calculated
using the vernal equinox. According to
the calendar, the equinox happened on
March 21, but in astronomical terms it
had actually happened many days earlier.
• To address the
problem, Pope Gregory the 13th issued an
edict in 1582 to create the Gregorian
calendar. By his decree, a leap year
would take place every four years unless
it was a year divisible by 100. The only
exception was if the year was also
divisible by 400.
• Therefore, the year
1900 was not a leap year, and neither
will 2100 be one. The year 2000 was a
leap year.
• The Gregorian calendar
was immediately adopted in Italy,
Portugal, Spain and Catholic parts of
Germany. Ten days were dropped that
year: Oct. 4 was immediately followed by
Oct. 15. People rioted over the change,
concerned that landlords were trying to
cheat them by shortening the month.
• The rest of the
Christian world adopted the Gregorian
calendar over the next few centuries.
Despite popular belief, riots were not
widespread in Britain in 1752 when 11
days were dropped in September.
• As of 2006 the Julian
calendar is 13 days behind the Gregorian
calendar.
• The Russian and
Serbian Orthodox churches still use the
Julian calendar. Therefore, they
celebrate Christmas later than everyone
else – on January 7.
• Both the Russians and
the Iranians use a calendar that is even
more accurate than the Gregorian
calendar. However, it will be several
thousand years before they become
unsynchronized.
• Other cultures and
religions use different calendars. The
Chinese and Hebrew calendars are based
on 12 lunar (moon-cycle) months, adding
a 13th lunar month every few years to
keep things synchronized.
• The Islamic calendar
is on a 12-month lunar cycle. Therefore,
an Islamic year is 354.36 days. This is
why the holy month of Ramadan is never
at the same time each year.
• On Feb. 29, 1984,
Pierre Trudeau announced his decision to
step down as Liberal leader and prime
minister. He made the decision during
his famous
walk in the snow.
• People born on Feb. 29
are sometimes known as "leapers."
Generally, they mark their birthdays on
Feb. 28 or March 1 in non-leap years,
and some have an extra special
celebration every four years.
• Approximately one
person in 1,461 was born on Feb. 29,
meaning there are about four million
such people around the world.
•
In 1988 the border town of Anthony,
Texas/New Mexico celebrated the first
World Wide Leap Year Festival. Resident
Mary Ann Brown, who was born on Feb. 29,
spearheaded the idea and successfully
campaigned to have the town named the
world's leap year capital. |
