Every four years, we add an extra day to the calendar to keep it in sync with the earths revolutions around the sun. It takes 365.242199 days for the earth to complete a full rotation around the sun. Our calendar, however, marks out a mere 365 days a year. If we did not add a day every four years, we would lose six hours from our calendar every year. That would add up to the loss of 24 days in the course of 100 years! I dont know about you, but I can use all the extra time I can get.

Fun Facts for Leap Year: * Julius Caesar introduced Leap Years around 45 BCE. * February 29 is traditionally a day where women are permitted to romantically pursue men. The tradition dates back to 5th century Ireland when St. Bridget lamented to St. Patrick about the "fair sex having to wait for men to propose." As a result, Patrick relented and declared that February 29 is the day that would be set aside when women can ask men for their hand in marriage. * On February 29 in the year 1860, Herman Hollerith invented the first electric tabulating machine, the forerunner to the calculator. * Hattie McDaniel was the first black person to win an Oscar. McDaniel won Best Supporting Actress for her role as Mammy in Gone with the Wind. The awards ceremony took place on February 29, 1940. * The chances of being born on a Leap Year are 1 in 1,461.

Famous Leap Year Births: 1792: Italian opera composer Gioacchino Rossini 1916: Singer Dinah Shore 1920: Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Howard Nemerov 1924: Cleveland Indians 3rd Baseman Al Rosen 1976: Rapper Ja Rule Karin Henriksen of Norway has given birth to three kids on three different leap days: 1960, 1964 and 1968, and the first Playboy Club ever opened in Chicago on February 29, 1960.

Caesar declared that every year evenly divisible by four would be a leap year. While simple, this rule actually created too many leap years to keep the Roman and lunar calendars aligned. More than 1500 years later, a new formula was introduced with the Gregorian Calendar, which we still use today.

If you're born on February 29th: People born on Leap Day are called leaplngs.

I can only imagine the awkward moment when a leapling being asked his age... 4, 8, 12, 16, 20? Never have a sweet 17 or forever 21. How sad. I'm supposed to spend time with my old friends on this 'bonus' time but I think I'd better spend it with my famz.

Some very interesting info about leap year

Trying to sort my messy life out