Leap Day

By: Jillian Smoker, 8th Grade

Just 8 days away is a day that only comes once every 4 years. It's Leap Day! There is much more to Leap Day than you would think, and some wacky traditions you wouldn't expect. Take a look below to find out more!

Every 4 Years… Or Is It?

Looking at past leap years, you would find that 1896 was a leap year, but the next one was in 1904. What about 1900? In reality, a leap year does not actually happen every 4 years. Centennials (like 1700 and 1900) that can't be divided by 400 are skipped. Without skipping certain leap years, the seasons would actually shift. Eventually, you'd be wearing swim shorts in the winter!

Not Just Leap Days

Keeping the time in sync with seasons is much more complicated than you'd think. Sometimes, instead of a whole day, officials have to add leap seconds to clocks. This is because the Earth doesn't rotate consistently, unlike our clocks which are very exact. Leap seconds are added before the start of a new month; the last time a leap second happened was actually on New Years' Eve in 2016. Imagine counting down to that!

From a tiny leap second we go to an entire leap month. Countries with lunisolar calendars (calendars based on the positions of the Sun and the Moon) have to add in whole leap months to keep seasons aligned with the date. Sometimes this means certain calendars will have more or less days, which also plays into the different years around the world. While it's 2024 for us, it's 5784 somewhere else. What a leap!

A Newspaper Specifically For Leap Day

If you are in France on February 29, you may just get yourself a copy of La Bougie du Sapeur. But I wouldn't suggest doing the crossword, because you'd have to wait 4 more years until you got the answers. This is because La Bougie du Sapeur is only released on Leap Day; it's a comical newspaper full of real and fake stories alike.

It was created as a joke between two friends in 1980, but now it's very successful, selling more newspapers than any other French newspaper on Leap Day. Subscriptions to the newspaper are about $100 every 100 years. What a deal!

The Honors Society of Leap Year Day Babies

If you are a leapling (a name for someone born on Leap Day), then The Honors Society of Leap Year Day Babies is for you. Yes, there is a whole club for people born on Leap Day. They are committed to connecting leaplings and making their struggles of being born on February 29 known. Here are some of their goals:

They want to make sure hospitals don't change birth certificates (sometimes they change the date of birth to February 28 or Mar 1 rather than February 29).

They want to make sure websites can't say February 29 is an invalid date when they ask for a birthday.

They want "Leap Day" to always be written on leap year calendars.

They also have a website. Check out https://www.leapyearday.com/ for some fun leap year facts!

Where Should You Celebrate Leap Day?

Anthony, Texas and Anthony, New Mexico (which are right next to each other) are both titled the "Leap Day Capital of the World." If you're looking for a place to celebrate February 29, then this is where you go. Leaplings from all over the world come to celebrate and the partying lasts for 4 days.

Special Proposals

In Ireland, legend has it that St. Patrick and St. Bridget made a bargain which let women propose instead of men. The catch was that they could only do this every 4 years, on Leap Day. For a long time, just Ireland had this tradition, but it eventually spread to other European countries. As it spread, a new tradition arose. If a man rejected a proposal from a woman on Leap Day, they would have to buy her things like gloves, a gown, or a fur coat.