Happy Leap Day

Posted: February 29, 2024 at 7:47 am

Is Leap Day really necessary? The short answer is yes, it is … in order to keep our calendars accurate. We know that it takes 365 days for the Earth to circle around the sun, but it’s not quite exact. In actuality, it takes slightly longer – roughly 365 days and six hours. It’s just a few extra hours each year, but they add up. So, in order to keep the calendar accurate, an extra day needs to be added, hence February 29th. If we didn’t add the extra day every four years, the seasons would shift, and a white Christmas would be very unlikely in the summer.

Did you know there was a tradition of women proposing to men on Leap Day? If you didn’t, it’s probably because a survey found most women think Leap Day proposals are completely “out of date.” Two-thirds of the women surveyed said they would never consider proposing on February 29th. That said, 16% of the women polled said they were planning to propose today.

Some other Leap Day facts….

-A person born on a Leap Day is called a “29er”, a “leapling” or a “leaper”. The odds of being born on February 29th are 1-in-1,461.
-The Henriksen family from Norway set the Guinness World Record for the most children born on February 29 in the same family, with children born in 1960, 1964 and 1968. American family the Estes tied the record, with Leapers born in 2004, 2008 and 2012.