Are you ready for 2024? It is a Leap Year! Let us explain why we have Leap Years and some fun facts and folklore about Leap Years andleaplings.
What Is a LeapYear?
Simply put, aleap year is a year with an extra day—February 29—added nearly every fouryears to the calendar year.
Why Are Leap Years Necessary?
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Adding an extra day every four years keeps our calendaraligned correctly with the astronomical seasons, since a year according to the Gregoriancalendar (365 days) and a year according to Earth’s orbit around the Sun (approximately 365.25 days) are not the same lengthof time. Without this extra day, our calendar and the seasons would gradually get out of sync. (Keep reading for alongerexplanation.)
Because of this extra day, aleap year has 366 days instead of 365. Additionally, a leap year does not end and begins on the same day of the week as a non–leapyeardoes.
How Do You Know If It’s aLeapYear?
Generally, a leap year happens every four years, which, thankfully, is a relatively simple patternto remember. However, there is a little more to it thanthat.
Here are the rules of leapyears:
- A year may be a leap year if it is evenly divisible by4.
- Years divisible by 100 (century years such as 1900 or 2000) cannot be leap yearsunless they are also divisible by 400. (For this reason, the years 1700, 1800, and 1900 were not leap years, but the years 1600 and 2000were.)
If a year satisfies both the rules above, it is a leapyear.
When Is the Next Leap Year? When is the Next LeapDay?
| Leap Year | Leap Day |
|---|
| 2024 | Thursday, February 29 |
|---|
| 2028 | Tuesday, February 29 |
|---|
| 2032 | Sunday, February 29 |
|---|
| 2036 | Friday, February 29 |
|---|
Why Do We Need LeapYears?
The short explanation for why we need leap years is thatourcalendar needs to stay aligned with the astronomicalseasons.
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 completelyalign with the solaryear.
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 four years brings the calendar in line and, therefore, realigns it with theseasons.
Without leap days, the calendar would be off by 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 45 seconds more eachyear.
After 100 years, the seasons would be off by 25 days!Eventually, the months we call February and March would feel likesummer in the NorthernHemisphere.
The extra leap day adjusts this drift, butit’s not a perfect match: Adding a leap day every fouryears overcompensates by a few extra seconds each leap year, adding up to about threeextra days every 10,000years.
What Is a Leap Day? And aLeapling?
A “leap day” is the extra day in the leap year: February 29. A “leapling” is a person born on a leap day. Leap Day is the rarest birthday in the Gregorian calendar.
Are there any leap-day babies out there? Do you celebrate on the 28th of February or the 1st of March—or, every four years (just kidding)? We suggest that all leaplings get two free slices of cake on non-Leap Years. And that you go all out on the LeapYears!
Leap Year Facts andFolklore
- Ages ago, Leap Day was known as “Ladies Day”or “Ladies’ Privilege,” as it was the one day when women were free to propose to men. Today, Sadie Hawkins Day sometimes applies to Feb 29 (leap day), based on this oldertradition.
- According to folklore, the weather always changes on Friday in a leapyear.
- “Leap year was ne’er a good sheep year” (oldproverb)
Are Leap Years BadLuck?
Many feel that to be born on Leap Day, thereby becoming a “leapling,” is a sign of goodluck.
In some cultures, getting married during a leap year is considered badluck.
We don’t know of any evidence supporting that marriage theory, but we do know that during leapyears:
- Rome burned(64),
- and the Titanic sank(1912).
Also, in leapyears:
- The Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, Massachusetts(1620),
- Benjamin Franklin proved that lightning is electricity(1752),
- and gold was discovered in California(1848).
Do you have any leap year memories? Are you a Leaplingyourself? Please share in the commentsbelow!
FAQs
When added, four 0.242190 days roughly equal one full day, which is why Feb. 29 is added to the calendar of most years that are divisible by four, including 2024.
Why do we have leap year and what does it mean? ›
The extra day keeps calendars and seasons from gradually falling out of sync and impacting harvesting, planting and other cycles based on the seasons. Without Leap Days, in 100 years, calendars would be 24 days off, CBS Minnesota reported, and in 700 years, Northern Hemisphere summers would begin in December.
Is 2024 a leap year True or false answer? ›
Here are some frequently asked questions about leap day and leap years: Is 2024 a leap year? Yes, 2024 is a leap year. It consists of 366 days instead of the usual 365 days.
Why do we have a leap year short answer? ›
The reason we have leap years is because the Earth's orbit around the Sun is not exactly 365 days. It takes about 365.2425 days for the Earth to complete one revolution around the Sun. This means that every year, our calendar is slightly behind the actual position of the Earth by about 6 hours.
How do you explain leap day? ›
"As the Earth goes around the sun, this takes 365.24 days, or 365 and a quarter days for the Earth in its position to move all the way around the Sun and back to its position," said Roberts. Roberts says to make up for the 365.24 days, we have an extra day -- Leap Day -- on the calendar every four years.
What happens if you are born on 29th February? ›
Leap years take place every four years with the last in 2020, and see's one extra day on February 29, Leap Day. However, as the occasion only comes around once every four years, it means that those born on February 29 miss out on birthdays.
What are the three rules for leap years? ›
Every year that is exactly divisible by four is a leap year, except for years that are exactly divisible by 100, but these centurial years are leap years if they are exactly divisible by 400. For example, the years 1700, 1800, and 1900 are not leap years, but the years 1600 and 2000 are.
Is a leap year good or bad luck? ›
In some cultures, leap years represent opportunity. Elsewhere, leap days, months (and in some cases whole years) are considered bad luck and avoidance tactics are deployed to try and reverse any ill fortune.
Will 2024 have 365 days? ›
Instead of the standard 365 days we see every year, we get an extra 24 hours in 2024 thanks to it being a leap year.
How old are leap year babies in 2024? ›
Feb. 29, 2028: 2024 Leap Day babies celebrate their first birthday (4 years old in actual years). Feb. 29, 2032: 2024 Leap Day babies turn 2 (8 years old).
Unfortunately, 12 times (any odd number) is always an even number. To make the number of days on the calendar add up to 365 in a year, there would have to be one month with an even number. February was chosen to have 28 days as this was when the Romans honoured their dead.
Why is 2024 a leap year? ›
2024 is very special because it's what's known as a leap year. It means the month of February has an extra day, so there are 29 instead of the usual 28. Leap years come around just once every four years. It's all to do with the amount of time it takes for planet Earth to orbit the Sun.
Why do we have leap years? ›
Leap years exist in order to keep the seasons from drifting in time during the calendar year. During a leap year, the calendar includes an extra day, February 29. Leap years occur every 4 years except for century years that are not divisible by 400 (such as 2000).
What is the mathematical reason we must have a leap year? ›
After the Earth turning 4 times, 1460.9688 days will have passed. But 4 years correspond to 1460 days and so the remaining 0.9688 almost correspond to a whole day. That's why it was decided to add 1 extra day every 4 years.
Why does February get the extra day? ›
This day is added to the calendar in leap years as a corrective measure because the Earth does not orbit the Sun in precisely 365 days. Since about the 15th century, this extra day has been 29 February, but when the Julian calendar was introduced, the leap day was handled differently in two respects.
Why is February 29th called leap day? ›
A leap year takes place roughly every four years, when an extra day is added to the Gregorian calendar, making the total duration of that year 366, not 365, days. The extra day is added at the end of the month of February. Feb. 29 is known as leap day.
What will happen on February 29, 2024? ›
Leap day is on Feb. 29, 2024. While February usually has 28 days (the shortest month of the year), every four years it gets an additional day, i.e. leap day. The last leap day was in 2020.
How often do we have 29 days in February? ›
To correct the problem, once every four years an extra day is added to the month of February and, you guessed it, it's known as leap day. Because of that, in 2024 there will be 366 days instead of the typical 365.
