| Leaping Into a New Year |
Leaping Into a New YearWhy wait? Let's leap right into the stories surrounding February holidays. Is There a Perfect Calendar? None of the calendars used today are perfect. They go wrong by seconds, minutes, hours or days every year. To make a calendar even better, new leap year rules have to be introduced, complicating the calculation of the calendar even more. The Gregorian calendar currently used needs some modification a few thousand years ahead. A tropical year is approximately 365.242199 days, but it varies from year to year, because of influence by the other planets.
How Do You Know? Here are some fun ways to tell if it's a Leap Year or not. Even decades have three Leap Years. Odd decades have two Leap Years.
Another way to tell is by what day of the week on which the year starts and ends. Leap Year only occurs in years that January 1st and December 31 fall on different days. For example: 2002 Tuesday January 1 - Tuesday December 31 = No 2003 Wednesday January 1 - Wednesday December 31 = No 2004 Thursday January 1 - Friday December 31 = Leap Year 2005 Saturday January 1 - Saturday December 31 = No 2006 Sunday January 1 - Sunday December 31 = No 2007 Monday January 1 - Monday December 31 = No 2008 Tuesday January 1 - Wednesday December 31 = Leap Year 2009 Thursday January 1 - Thursday December 31 = No 2010 Friday January 1 - Friday December 31 = No 2011 Saturday January 1 - Saturday December 31 = No 2012 Sunday January 1 - Monday December 31 = Leap Year 2013 Tuesday January 1 - Tuesday December 31 = No 2014 Wednesday January 1 - Wednesday December 31 = No Imagine These Birthdays Leap Year Day babies born in 1884 had no birthday during their entire teen-age years. Why? Because 1900 was not a Leap Year. In 1888 they were 4 at 1. In 1892 they were 8 at 2. In 1896 they were 12 at 3. Since 1900 was not a Leap Year, there were 8 years before they could celebrate again on February 29. So, in 1904 they were 20 at 5. Not one single teenage year was celebrated ON their birth date. Another way to pose the question is: Leap Year Day babies celebrate their birthday on their birth date every four years. But those born in 1884 couldn't celebrate on their 4th birthday when they turned 16. Why? Leap Year Day babies will never have a Golden Birthday. A Golden Birthday is when your age matches the number of the day of the month on which you were born. Leap Year Day babies will have to be 116 before they turn 29 on the 29th! International Date Line Dilemma, the Long and Short of It All The L O N G of it--longest reported Leap Day: Jon Hayanga Leap Year Day baby 1960, had his birthday in Taipei one day and then crossed the international date line going east and had his birthday again the next day in Spokane, Washington in the United States. And the SHORT of it, shortest reported Leap Day: Ed Chatfield Leap Year Day baby 1940, crossed the date line in a ship (going west) the night of February 28th and woke up on March 1st. So, he lost his birthday entirely. When a Leap Year Day baby turns 13 their birth date is not on the calendar. When you turn 13 it's a big deal. You're now a teenager. But this special birthday will not be celebrated on the date a Leap Year baby is born. Leaping Math Issues 1) If Raenell was born in 1960, but has only had 10 birthdays on her birth day, how could she be 40 in the year 2000? (Answer: Because 1960 was a Leap Year so Raenell must have been born on February 29. Note: See how it is worded? "On her birth day" - we can only celebrate our birth day ON our birthday, in Leap Years.) 2) If Peter was born on February 29, 1956 and in 2004 turned 12 Leap Years on his birthday, how many years old is Peter? (Answer: 48. The key is 12 Leap Years vs. how many "years" without the Leap, literally!) 3) If Caroline was born February 29, 2000, how many birthdays will she celebrate, on her birthday, by 2008? (Answer: 2) 4) If Jim was born February 29, 1976, how many times did he celebrate his birthday ON his birthday, by 2005? (Answer: 7. Seven times four is 28. In 2005 Jim would be 29.) Ideas for Leapified Names
If you know anyone who was born on February 29, have some fun and ask their Leap Year age and actual age; the answer may startle you.">
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