February 22nd

By Mutt Mulligan

The Reason Behind Leap Year

We have a special day coming up – February 29^th – and it comes but once every four years. Why?

Leap Year dates back to Julius Cesar whose calendar was the basis for the later Gregorian calendar we use to this day. The Gregorian calendar, like the Julian one, observes leap year every four years because the length of time it takes the Earth to move itself around the sun once is actually 365.242199 days. In other words, the Earth is slower than our calendar calculates.

To keep our calendar in alignment with the Earth’s actual movement, we tack an additional day onto the year once every four years. If we didn’t, the first day of spring would eventually move into April, then May and so on. Consider Leap Day to be a minor delay toward a major delight – time to get back in the yard for some serious digging. 

Do you know someone born on Leap Day?