With 2020 being a leap year, we compiled a few fun facts about Leap Years…including a countdown to the next leap day after February 29, 2020. Happy Leap Year!
The year of the first leap year!
Time until the next leap day
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Celebrities Born on February 29th include...
Ja Rule (Rapper)
Tony Robbins (Motivational Speaker)
Peter Scanavino (Actor)
Mark Foster (Singer – Foster the People)
Dinah Shore (Singer/Talk Show Host)
Dennis Farina (Actor)
Jessie Usher (Actor)
Lena Gercke (Model)
Jack Lousma (Astronaut)
Jessica Long (Paralympic Swimmer
Bachelor's Day Tradition Originated in Ireland
Bachelor’s Day is an Irish tradition on Leap Day that allows women to initiate dances and propose marriage. If the proposal was refused, the man was expected to buy the woman a silk gown, or fur coat. The tradition is said to have originated from a deal that was struck between St. Bridget and St. Patrick.
- Percentage of Greek Couples That Refuse to Get Married on a Leap Year 20%
The Honour Society of Leap Year Babies is a club for people born on Feb. 29. More than 10,000 people worldwide are members. People born on a leap year are known as “leaplings” or “leapers.”
Leap Years Were Invented by Julius Caesar
They were created in the first century BC in order to sync the calendar with the seasons by Emperor Julius Caesar. Pope Gregory XIII later perfected the system in 1582, forming the Gregorian calendar used today.
Leap days are needed to keep our calendar in alignment with the Earth’s revolutions around the Sun. It takes the Earth approximately 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 45 seconds to circle once around the Sun. Without the extra day on February 29th every four years, we would lose almost 6 house every year. After only 100 years, our calendar would be off by approximately 24 days.
