Leap Year. What is it? When is it? Why is it? Besides the fact that you have an extra day to reach your cookie goals (!!!), Leap Year is a concept that a lot of people don't quite understand. Why does it come every 4 years? Why does it happen at all? We decided to do a little research and answer some questions about Leap Year!
Why do we have a Leap Day this year?
An extra day is added to February every four-ish years—and it all has to do with the Earth's orbit and the Gregorian calendar. The Earth takes about 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 45 seconds (according to timeanddate.com) to circle once around the sun. Leap Years can be identified by two unique criteria:
According to The Telegraph, "Leap seconds are crucial to ensuring the time we use does not drift away from time based on the Earth's spin. If left unchecked, this would eventually result in clocks showing the middle of the day occurring at night."
Does anything special happen on Leap Day?
Sure! People born on a Leap Day (called leaplings or leapers) get special perks. Besides the fact that they're finally able to celebrate on their actual birthday, restaurants like the Hard Rock Cafe and the Olive Garden give out freebies for those with a Leap Year birthday. There's even a special club for those born on Leap Day called The Honor Society of Leap Year Day Babies. Since launching the website in 1997, over 10,000 people from all walks of life have joined the society.
Are you a leapling or a leaper? How do you celebrate Leap Day? Comment below!
An extra day is added to February every four-ish years—and it all has to do with the Earth's orbit and the Gregorian calendar. The Earth takes about 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 45 seconds (according to timeanddate.com) to circle once around the sun. Leap Years can be identified by two unique criteria:
- The year can be evenly divided by the number 4.
- If the year can be evenly divided by 100, it is not a leap year unless the year is also evenly by 400. (WHEW!)
Leap Years are needed to keep our calendar in alignment with the Earth's revolutions around the sun. What would happen if we didn't incorporate a Leap Year? Every year, we would lose about six hours off our calendar, which equates to 24 days after 100 years. Crazy!
Leap seconds are a thing... but why?
Leap seconds aren't directly correlated to leap years, but they serve the same purpose—to keep our Earth's rotation in sync with our calendars and clocks. We had a leap second happen this past June right before midnight!
According to The Telegraph, "Leap seconds are crucial to ensuring the time we use does not drift away from time based on the Earth's spin. If left unchecked, this would eventually result in clocks showing the middle of the day occurring at night."
Does anything special happen on Leap Day?
Sure! People born on a Leap Day (called leaplings or leapers) get special perks. Besides the fact that they're finally able to celebrate on their actual birthday, restaurants like the Hard Rock Cafe and the Olive Garden give out freebies for those with a Leap Year birthday. There's even a special club for those born on Leap Day called The Honor Society of Leap Year Day Babies. Since launching the website in 1997, over 10,000 people from all walks of life have joined the society.
Are you a leapling or a leaper? How do you celebrate Leap Day? Comment below!
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