Collected from Google:February 29 crops up every four years, but what is a leap year?Frogs are associated with leap years. This is a leaping frog Photo: Getty
Why do we have leap years?
A leap year, where an extra day is added to the end of February every four years, is down to the solar system's disparity with the Gregorian calendar.A complete orbit of the earth around the sun takes exactly 365.2422 days to complete, but the Gregorian calendar uses 365 days.So leap seconds - and leap years - are added as means of keeping our clocks (and calendars) in sync with the Earth and its seasons.Why does the extra day fall in February?
All the other months in the Julian calendar have 30 or 31 days, but February lost out to the ego of Roman Emperor Caesar Augustus.Under his predecessor Julius Caesar, Feb had 30 days and the month named after him - July - had 31. August had only 29 days.When Caesar Augustus became Emperor he added two days to 'his' month to make August the same as July.So February lost out to August in the battle of the extra days.Why does the woman propose on a leap year?
One theory is that the custom dates back to the 5th Century, when, legend has it, an Irish nun called St Bridget complained to St Patrick that women had to wait too long for their suitors to propose. St Patrick then supposedly gave women the chance to ask the question every four years.The tradition is not thought to have become commonplace until the 19th Century.Then there's the theory that Queen Margaret of Scotland was behind the fabled Scottish law of 1288. The law allowed unmarried women the freedom to propose during a leap year, and the man who refused was handed a fine.The truth behind this tale is dubious at best - after all Queen Margaret was just eight years old when she died and scholars have been unable to find a record of the law.Technically, a leap year isn't every four years.
February 29, also known as leap day in the Gregorian calendar, is a date that occurs in most years that are divisible by 4, such as 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020, and 2024. Years that are divisible by 100, but not by 400, do not contain a leap day. Thus, 1700, 1800, and 1900 did not contain a leap day, 2100, 2200, and 2300 will not contain a leap day, while 1600 and 2000 did, and 2400 will. Years containing a leap day are called leap years. February 29 is the 60th day of the Gregorian calendar in such a year, with 306 days remaining until the end of the year. In the Chinese calendar, this day will only occur in years of the monkey, dragon, and rat.The year 2000 was a leap year, but the years 1700, 1800 and 1900 were not.There's a leap year every year that is divisible by four, except for years that are both divisible by 100 and not divisible by 400.The added rule about centuries (versus just every four years) was an additional fix to make up for the fact that an extra day every four years is too much of a correction.The Roman calendar used to have 355 days with an extra 22-day month every two years until Julius Caesar became emperor in the 1st Century and ordered his astronomer Sosigenes to devise something better.Sosigenes decided on a 365-day year with an extra day every four years to incorporate the extra hours, and so February 29th was born.As an earth year is not exactly 365.25 days long Pope Gregory XIII's astronomers decided to lose three days every 400 years when they introduced the Gregorian calendar in 1582.The maths has worked ever since but the system will need to be rethought in about 10,000 years' time. Perhaps mankind's robot overlords will think of something.The chances of having a leap birthday are one in 1,461. People who are born on February 29 are referred to as "leaplings", or "leapers". In non-leap years, many leaplings choose to celebrate their birthday on either February 28 or March 1, while purists stick to February 29 for the occasion.Some suggest those born before midday on February 29 should celebrate their birthdays on February 28, while those born in the afternoon and evening of the 28th should celebrate their special day on March 1 (St David's Day).About 4.1 million people around the world have been born on the 29th.Pisces is the zodiac sign of a person born on February 29, and amethyst is the birthstone for this month.Famous people born on a leap day
The chances of having a birthday on a leap day are extremely slim - the odds are one in 1,461 to be exact - and there's quite an eclectic mix of famous people born on the day.Indian personalities born on Leap year are about Three.1. Morarji Desai- Born on 29 February, 1896. Bombay Presidency. A politician and Social Activist. Ex.. PM of India.2. Rukmini Devi Arundale - Born on February 29, 1904,Madhurai. A Philosopher, dancer &Choreographer of Bharata Natyam. Also a Social activist.3. Adam Sinclair born on February 29,, 1984 at Coimbatore. Member of Indian Field Hockey and represented in Olympics.Google have done a doodle!
12, మార్చి 2016, శనివారం
Subject: All about Leap Year
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