What actually is a leap year? You may know that, every four years, an extra day is added to the month of February; but have you ever wondered why this is? In this article, we will explore the origins, history, and significance of the leap year.
You’ve probably heard that a year is 365 days because the Earth takes this period of time to orbit the sun. However, this is actually a result of rounding. First discovered by Hipparchus, a Greek astronomer, geographer, and mathematician from 162 and 127 BC., it actually takes the Earth 365.25 days or 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 45.19 seconds for the Earth to fully orbit the Sun. This extra time in a year that isn’t shown within a calendar needs to be accounted for somehow: if not, the seasons would start to drift and eventually our holiday dates, celebrations, and much more would all be messed up. So, by adding an extra day every 4 years, the excess time it takes to orbit the sun is accounted for within our calendars.
Julius Caesar came up with the concept of the leap year in 45 BCE; he realized there were inconsistencies in the Roman calendar at the time, and so he introduced a 365-day calendar. Before this, the Romans had a 355-day calendar and to keep festivals occurring around the same season each year, a 22- or 23-day month was created every second year. To simplify things in the 365-day calendar, Caesar made it so that after every fourth year following the 28th day of February— February 29— one day was added. Later on, in 1582, Pope Gregory XIII further refined the calendar with the rule that leap day would occur in any year divisible by four as described previously.
The leap year is indeed an oddity, and so here are a list of fun facts about them!
Leap years are also called intercalary years or bissextile years.
Only about 5 million people have a Leap Day birthday.
Famous NBA player Tyrese Haliburton has a birthday on 29th of February.
The Summer Olympic Games are held every four years on leap years.
This year is a leap year!
People born on a Leap Day are sometimes called leaplings.
If you would like to learn more about the leap year in apt and in-depth detail, this video is a great resource: Leap years and why we need them - BBC News
Happy leap year!
