Leap Day: February 29th, 2016

By: Meradeth Houston on 4:00 AM

As a kid, I remember the first time someone explained Leap Year to me. I totally didn't believe them. I *may* have been a bit of a skeptical kid (and adult.... :). Anyhow, it is one of those kind of random phenomena that I find really interesting. I mean, really, adding another day to the calendar? Who gets to decide that kind of thing?

Well, apparently, Julius Caesar, around 46 BC. Unfortunately, he didn't get the math quite right, so

things were wonky for a while until the dates were worked out by Pope Gregory XIII introduced his Gregorian calendar more than 1,500 years later (info from here--also, how does one cite on a blog? MLA? APA?). Random, right?

The other bit of info that most people know because of the terrible movie that came out in 2010, but there's this tradition that women can ask a man to marry then on Leap Year. How this all got started has a bunch of different stories, from St. Bridget complaining to St. Patrick and the latter deciding to give her a day (from here), or that it got started in Scotland, but there was a fine for the males who got asked (from here), and a variety of other versions on the web. Personally, I find the different accounts of the origins of the gender-bending stereotype more amusing that the tradition itself, but there's neither here nor there :) I mean, let's get real, can't a woman ask a man to marry her at any point she pleases? *eye-roll*

But, other than that, I do think it's rather unfortunate for those who are born on the day. Birthdays are a big deal to celebrate, and being stuck not celebrating on your actual day 75% of time would kind of be a pain. But, there are plenty of people who have a Leap Year birthday (AKA leaplings, which is a cute enough name to almost make up for things!). A few famous ones include: composer Gioacchino Rossini, motivational speaker Tony Robbins, jazz musician Jimmy Dorsey, actors Dennis Farina and Antonio Sabato Jr., and rapper/actor Ja Rule (from here).

Overall, it's a bit of a random event that deals with our earth's spinning and humanity's way of dealing with in on paper. Really, it's just another day. Do you have any fun associations with Leap Year?