Happy Leap Day - Marry Me!
In some cultures, leap years alter traditional roles in courtship and marriage proposals. For instance, there's an Irish tradition known as "Bachelor's Day" or "Ladies' Privilege," where women are encouraged to take the initiative and propose marriage to men on February 29th.
This tradition is said to have been started in the 5th century when St. Brigid of Kildare complained to St. Patrick about women having to wait too long for men to propose. St. Patrick then supposedly granted women the privilege to propose on this one day every four years. The tradition has inspired romantic comedy plots and continues to be a fun, quirky aspect of leap year lore.
What are Leap Years?
Leap years are a corrective measure used to align our calendar with the Earth's revolutions around the Sun. It takes the Earth approximately 365.242189 days, or a tropical year, to complete one orbit around the Sun. However, the Gregorian calendar, which is the most widely used calendar system today, has only 365 days in a common year.
So that .242189 part of a day is important! If we didn't add a day approximately every four years, we would lose almost six hours off our calendar each year. After 100 years, this discrepancy would add up to about 24 days. By adding an extra day, February 29, in a leap year every four years, we can compensate for this difference, keeping our calendar in alignment with the Earth's position relative to the Sun.
The rule to determine a leap year
A year is a leap year if it is divisible by 4, but years divisible by 100 are not leap years unless they are also divisible by 400. This means that the year 2000 was a leap year, although 1900 was not.
That’s the science, but what about an extra day’s pay?
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