Today is leap day. In what has become an Obstructed Views tradition, we figured we have some fun with leap day and leap years. What is exactly is leap day or a leap year? Well, most people assume that it takes the Earth 365 days to go around the sun. Most people would be wrong. It actually takes a little longer than a year to go around the Sun — 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 46 seconds, to be exact.
History
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| courtesy of musicfortenews.com |
So why not add an extra 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 46 seconds to each year? First of all that’s not practical. Besides, it would mess up Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin Eve. The ancient Egyptians were the first to realize that man screwed up and that the solar calendar and the manmade calendar didn’t’ match up. The Romans were the first to designate February 29 as leap day, but a more exact formula was adopted in the 16th century when the Gregorian calendar included a leap day in years only divisible by four. 2012 for example. Another part of the formula is that no year divisible by 100 would have a leap year, except if it was divisible by 400. So 1900 = not a leap year and 2000 = leap year. Confused? There will be a test at the end.
Fun Facts
· People born on Leap Day are Pisces and are said to have unusual talents and personalities reflecting their special status
· People born on Leap Day are called leaplings
· Women are supposed to propose to men today – a tradition that dates back to St. Patrick and St. Bridget in Ireland
· U.S. Presidential Elections and the Summer Olympics occur during Leap Years
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| courtesy of brideheaven.com |
· In Greece it is considered bad luck to get married during a leap year…..thank god I’m not Greek
· The chances of having a leap year birthday are 1 in 1,461
· George Washington put Jay’s Treaty into effect in 1796
· Gone With the Wind won 8 Academy Awards in 1940
· The first Playboy club opened in Chicago in 1960
Leap Day Birthdays
1916 – Dinah Shore, Singer
1936 – Henri “Rocket” Richard, Hockey Player
1944 – Dennis Farina, Actor
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| courtesy of http://my-success-guru.hubpages.com |
1960 – Tony Robbins, Motivational speaker
1968 – Bryce Paup, Football Player
1972 – Antonio Sabàto Jr, Actor
1976 – Ja Rule, Rapper
1980 – Simon Gagne, Hockey Player
1984 – Cullen Jones, Swimmer
