Leap Into These Interesting Leap Year Facts
By: Verb Interactive
Tags: Facts, Fun, Marketing, Interesting, Digital Marketing

Leap Into These Interesting Leap Year Facts

By Adam Barrett

“Today is an ephemeral ghost” — Vera Nazarian

“Might as well jump” — “Diamond” David Lee Roth

If you spend enough time talking to people, eventually, somebody is going to mention how 2020 feels like it’s moving at a snail’s pace. January crawled, folks are predicting March will come in like a lion and leave… also like a lion, but February? Well, this month seems to be zipping along, which is especially strange, considering it’s technically longer than it’s been since 2016.

That’s right, 2020 is a leap year — something that only happens once every four (or so) spins around the sun. Since this isn’t an every day (or even every year) occurrence, it’s a great chance to share a few facts about leap year with you!

First Things First — What is a Leap Year Anyway?

A leap year is an event that occurs on the Gregorian calendar (aka, the calendar on your phone, your computer, and your wall). It involves adding an additional day (known as leap day) to February, bringing it from 28 days to 29. This isn’t just some fun way to spice up the calendar every few years — a leap year actually serves an essential purpose.

There are 365 days in the regular Gregorian calendar year, but it takes 365.24 days (365 days, five hours, 48 minutes, and 45 seconds to be precise) for Earth to complete a solar orbit (known as a tropical year). This means the Gregorian calendar year starts about six hours before a tropical year. While this may not seem like a big difference, scope creep is real in all aspects of life — even astrological ones. Without adding an extra day every four years to make up this difference, the calendar year would begin drifting out of sync with the tropical year. The seasons would shift, April showers would no longer bring May flowers, and — eventually — the Northern Hemisphere would be gearing up for winter in the middle of July.

In short…

When is a Leap Year Not a Leap Year?

Okay, so, every four years, without fail, we have a leap year in the calendar. Easy peasy, right? Wrong! You’re actually thinking of how things worked with the Julian calendar (don’t you hate when that happens?). The Julian calendar, named after Roman general Julius Caesar, introduced leap days every four years to better align the calendar year with the tropical year. But, eventually, this extra day was found to be too much of a course correction. As a result, we moved from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar, introduced by Pope Gregory XIII. The major difference? Instead of a leap day every four years, one occurs every year that is divisible by four, except for those divisible by 100 and not divisible by 400. So, the year 2000? Leap year. The year 1600? Leap year. 1700, 1800, and 1900? Not leap years.

Feeling confused? Then you’re going to love this — on occasion, scientists have also been known to add “leap seconds” into the calendar. In fact, since 1972, there have been 27 extra seconds added to further align the calendar year with the tropical year.

Luckily, we don’t make the calendars, we just follow them!

Leap Year Birthdays

About 0.07% of the world’s population — roughly 4.8 million people — celebrate their birthdays on February 29. A few of them you may have even heard of! Ja Rule was born February 29, 1976 (happy 11th birthday, Ja Rule), the same day as famous character actor Dennis Farina (1944), Canadian hockey player Cam Ward (1984), and singer/actress Dinah Shore (1916).

And if you’re a true crime fanatic, it may keep you up at night to know “The Night Stalker” Robert Rameriez (1960) and Aileen Wuornos (1956) were also born on February 29.

So, what are the odds of being born on leap day? Honestly, it’s not as much of a long shot as you might think — one in 1461. That said, According to Guinness World Records, only one family has ever had three consecutive generations born on leap day. The line begins with Peter Anthony Keogh, who was born on February 29, 1940. His son, Peter Eric, followed on leap day in 1964. Then, granddaughter Bethany Wealth arrived in 1996. Perhaps even more interestingly, a woman named Karin Henriksen gave birth to children on three consecutive leap days — a daughter in 1960, followed by sons in 1964 and 1968.

Coincidences? The most impressive attempts at family planning ever? Who can say?

Leap Year Events

In addition to births, a few interesting things have happened throughout the (leap) years on February 29. In 1692, the first arrest warrants for the Salem witch trials were issued. In 1940, Hattie McDaniel became the first African American to win an Academy Award for her role in Gone with the Wind. In 1980, 51-year-old hockey legend Gordie Howe scored his 800th career goal as a member of the Hartford Whalers. And in France, La Bougie du Sapeur has been published every leap day since 1980 — making it the world’s least-frequently published newspaper.

One event that folks in Greece try to avoid during a leap year is getting married. That’s because they believe tying the knot any time during a leap year — not just on February 29 — is bad luck. The same can be said for Italians, who have an extremely light-hearted expression summing up their leap-year feelings, “Anno bisesto, anno funesto” (leap year, doom year).

A Few Final Fast Facts For Leap Year

Here are a few more leap year facts to think about. Let’s start with the bad news, if you’re a salaried employee, you’re probably not getting paid for your extra day. But it could be worse, if you were in jail over a leap year, you’d have to serve an additional day behind bars. On the flip side, you’ll have a free night’s stay in your apartment on a leap year — renters aren’t charged for the extra calendar day. And if you find yourself traveling on February 29, we can’t think of a better spot to be than Anthony, Texas — the Leap Capital of the World! Every leap day, this West Texas town hosts an officially sponsored leap year birthday parade and festival.

And there you have it, everything you could ever possibly need to know about leap year! Now, if you’re looking for something to do on your extra day (a Saturday, no less), we can help. Get caught up on our other great re:VERB articles or listen to the latest episode of the re:VERB Podcast. They’re sure to have you jumpi— er, leaping for joy!

Adam is a Digital Copywriter and Content Strategist with VERB Interactive — a leader in digital marketing, specializing in solutions for the travel and hospitality industry. Find out more at www.verbinteractive.com.