Leap Year

Why do we leap?

No Gravatar

It just crept up on me.  Sure, I don’t really follow the secular calendar.  But, still.

30 days hath September, April, June, and November.   All the rest have 31.  Except February.  (Which obviously is confused, since it’s either 28 or 29.)  I will explain how February got so confused in a moment.

But, here’s something I bet you never considered before.  Leap years coincide with Presidential elections.  Because if there is any other tomfoolery that we can consider…   (NOTE:  There are no leap years when the last two digits are 00, unless the sum is divisible by 400.  Proof that there’s plenty of tomfoolery.)

And, yes, I know someone who was born on 29 February.   Actually, two.    And, I went to grad school with one, so I know he would technically be only 18 years old today.  (He celebrates his birthday on the last day of February every year.)   And, the other one would only be 8- and she celebrates hers on both the 28th of February AND the 1st of March, when there is no 29th.

Now, we Jewish folks know our calendar only consumes 353 (or 354 or 355) days- not the 365 (or 366) of the secular calendar.  So, instead of adding 1 day to keep things on an even keel, we add an extra month-  7 times during every 19 year period (years 3, 6, 8, 11, 14, 17, and 19).   In so doing, our holidays all stay in the same seasons.  (You do recall that the Muslim religion doesn’t use the concept of leap year- so Ramadan can be during any season of the year- in the hot heat of summer or the frigid cold of winter.)

But, back to the secular calendar.  Way back before Julius Caesar, the Roman calendar was like the Jewish calendar.  (Yes, they stole the concept from us.)  Their calendar  also had 355 days.  And, just like the Jews, they added an extra month after February (about the same time as our Adar), every other year, to ensure the religious festivals fell on the right seasons.  (See- that’s where the February tradition of confusion started.)

But, then Julius Caeser divorced the calendar from its Jewish origins.  He established the year to be 365 days.  With a leap year every four years.  (Notice, that still left the calendar a little off- since the revolution is not quite 365.25 days.)  But, then  Pope Gregory figured out that the calendar had one leap year too many every century. Because a solar year is really longer than 365 solar days, with the addition of 5 hours, 55 minutes, and 58 seconds (365.24720 days, to be fairly precise).   Even so, it meant that Caesar’s innovation would mean the four year cycle would still be off by 0.12 days.

And, while the seasons were critical in this choice, it was really chosen by the Pope to make sure that the vernal equinox will be as humanly close to 21 March as possible.  (This year it’s 20 March.)  Because that lets Easter be the first Sunday after the vernal equinox.

(By the way, the British resisted this Papal calendar change- as part of its Anglican-Catholic battles..   They stuck with the Julian Calendar.  Which is why- despite how we celebrate it now- George Washington had been born on 11 February  1731. (Yes, the day before Lincoln’s.)  But, when the British Commonwealth [which included the American colonies] adopted the Gregorian Calendar, they added  days to the various dates to keep things uniform.   Before George Washington died, his birthday was changed to 22 February 1732.)

And, if you’re Irish- tomorrow [the 29th] is the day women are allowed (required?) to propose to their man.   And, if you’re not…enjoy your extra day.

Just don’t try to put it in the bank.

Share this:
Share this page via Email Share this page via Stumble Upon Share this page via Digg this Share this page via Facebook Share this page via Twitter
Share

8 thoughts on “Why do we leap?”

  1. At a Weight Watchers meeting this week, we were asked if any of us had February 29 birthdays or knew someone who did. No one had that birthday but several knew people who did. The next question was “do they celebrate on Feb 28 or March 1 on non leap day years? It was about evenly split. I never knew the whole story of leap day and thank you.
    Alana recently posted..Spring Backs Off #SkywatchFriday

Comments are closed.