Read this on Sympatic.ca today and figured it would be fun to share. Some are historical, some are silly, but hey for those who enjoy a drink now and then there is even something for you.
How, when, why?
Our present day calendar is based on the early Roman calendar used by Romulus which only had 10 months beginning with March. January and February were added around 700 BCE to reflect the lunar calendar. This made February the last month of the year. In 45 BCE, Julius Caesar introduced Leap Years by adding one day to last month of the calendar year.
If we didn’t have Leap Years, we would lose almost six hours from our calendar every year. This means, every 100 years, we would be lose 24 days. Can you image how that would throw off everything?
How poetic
Our calendar is essentially a way to mark the days, and doesn’t have any effect on the natural world. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t useful to remember. The traditional English Rhyme, ‘Thirty Days Hath September’ is used to help people remember the lengths and months in the calendar. It goes as follows:
Thirty days hath September,
April, June, and November;
All the rest have thirty-one,
Save February, with twenty-eight days clear,
And twenty-nine each leap year.
Cool calculation
Any year that can be evenly divided by 4 is a leap year. If you divide 2012 by 4, you get 503—a whole number. Anything with decimals (like 2011, which divided by 4 is 502.75) is not a leap year.
Happy birthday Leaplings!
People born on Leap Day are called ‘leaplings’ and there is a 1 in 1,461 chance of being born on February 29th. That means there are approximately 4 million people around the world who celebrate their birthday once every four years. Now, this doesn’t mean that people are only 4 years old after living for 16 years, but we are sure those jokes never get old with leaplings.
If you thought leaplings were only missing out on birthday parties, you totally underestimated their woes: When 2/29 is entered into a majority of websites, it comes up as an invalid birth date and in most countries, leaplings must wait until March 1st to be eligible for any age-specific privileges (for example, voting at 18, drinking at 19 etc).
That’s a record
Leap Day is an unusual event opening the door for many world records. Here are two that might interested you:
Mrs. Karin Henriksen of Norway gave birth to 3 children on consecutive Leap Days: her daughter was born in 1960 and her sons in 1964 and 1968. She holds the record for most children born on February 29th.
The Keogh family holds the record for most generations born on February 29th. In this family from Ireland and Great Britain, the father was both on Leap Day in 1940, the son in 1964 and the granddaughter in 1996.
Long-named Leapling
Mr. Wolfe Plus 585 Sr. was born on February 29th, 1904 and holds the record for the world’s longest name. He has a Christian name for every letter in the alphabet, and his last name is 590 characters. Hence, this German man prefers the name, Wolfe Plus 585.
Sadie Hawkins Day
Leap Day is also sometimes called Sadie Hawkins Day. Named after a fictional character, it is the only day when women can ask men out on a date or even propose for marriage. Some schools hold a Sadie Hawkins dance that encourages girls to ask boys to be their dates.
So, today's your chance daring ladies!
Leap Year cocktail
In 1928, the Leap Year Cocktail was invented in the Savoy Hotel in London. This drink is said to have spurred many a marriage proposal. We are sure you are wondering what the ingredients of this cocktail are, so here is the secret:
2 ounces gin
½ ounce Grand Marnier
½ ounce sweet vermouth
¼ ounce fresh lemon juice
Stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Serve with a twist of lemon
Bad Omen?
Some poeple think that Leap Day brings disaster with it. They have some historical evidence to back up their beliefs. In 1960, a 5.7 magnitude earthquake killed 1/3 of the population in Agadir, Morocco in 15 seconds. In 1996, a Peruvian commercial jetliner crashed in the Andes, killing all 123 people on board. We don’t believe in superstitions but here is your fair warning if you do.
Rare Disease Day
This year, 56 countries (including Canada) are recognizing Leap Day as Rare Disease Day, calling for more research into ailments that have no known cure. For more information on this event, as well as, to see the full list of participating countries, you can visit their website.
