Leap Year

It's all because of the Earth's rotation and the fact that a day isn't actually an exact 24 hours. Slooh astronomer Bob Berman explained to AccuWeather, that each rotation of Earth takes 23 hours, 56 minutes and 4.1 seconds, to be precise. The orbit around the sun is also imprecise: Earth takes 365 days, five hours, 48 minutes and 45 seconds to complete a full trip.

The Gregorian calendar, created by Pope Gregory in 1583, factors in the uneven timing by including an extra day in February every four years as a leap year. 

However, an extra day every four years is an overcorrection to the calendar, and Pope Gregory accounted for this, too. For every century year, the calendar resets by skipping leap year. Every 400 years, it does not reset and maintains the leap year. The year 2000 was a year that did not reset; therefore, it had an extra day. 

For instance, someone born on a Leap Day is known as a leapling, though the odds of being a leapling are exceedingly slim. The chances of being born on a leap day are about one in 1,461, according to the BBC. Leaplings typically celebrate their birthdays on Feb. 28 or March 1, iNews reports.

One Leap Day tradition includes a day on which women could break with custom and propose to their significant other. This is an old Irish legend that dates back to the 5th century and a deal struck by St. Patrick and St. Bridget. According to the Farmer's Almanac, St. Bridget came to St. Patrick frustrated with waiting for a man to propose to her. They came up with a deal that women could propose to a man only on a Leap Day.

The next leap day will be Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024

By Jesse Ferrell, Meteorologist, Social Media Manager