Leap Year

We all know that a leap year contains 366 days versus 365 days. But to you know WHY? This day is added to the calendar in leap years as a corrective measure, because the Earth does not orbit around the sun in precisely 365 days. Leap years are needed to keep our modern day Gregorian Calendar in alignment with the Earth’s revolutions around the sun. If we didn’t add a leap day on February 29 nearly every four years, we would lose almost six hours off our calendar every year. After only 100 years, our calendar would be off by around 24 days!

 

Reverse Proposals

Many believe that the tradition harks back to the days when Feb 29 was not recognised by English law – since the day had no legal status, it was possible to break with convention. Just for one day, a woman could propose to a man.

 

Why Does February only have 28 Days?

Under Julius Caesar, February initially had 30 days, while August had only 29 days. July – named after the emperor – had 31 days.  When his successor, Caesar Augustus, took over, he became angry at the lack of days for his namesake month and decided to add two days so August would be on a par with July. February was the month that lost days for this act of vanity.

Cindy Matthews – Marketing Manager