Why Leap Days Come to an End? An Astronomy and History Expert Explains Why There Is An Extra Day Every Fourth Year, but Not Every Fourth
This Thursday is a leap day — an extra day that’s added to the Gregorian calendar every four years (except for years divisible by 100, but not 400). Morning Edition asked experts in astronomy, economics, and history to explain why we have leap days and why there is an alternative calendar format.
Alexander Boxer, author of A Scheme of Heaven and a data scientist, believes Leap day means different things to him.
He says it’s an “awkward calendar hack” which was meant to make up for the fact that a year is not a flat number of days. There’s more to it than that.
Boxer suggests that it is a great reminder that the calendar most people rely on each day is actually the product of multiple civilizations, building off each other as they try to understand time.
Where did leap year come from and what are we supposed to do with the extra day? NPR’s Morning Edition spoke with experts in astronomy, history and economics to find out.
But it actually takes Earth 365.242190 days to orbit the sun, says Jackie Faherty, an astronomer at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.
It seems like the current calendar system — with its leap days and years — may be here to stay, despite the many possible alternates. Faherty, the astronomer, says if someone truly wanted to keep track of their path around the sun, one could “build yourself a henge and know when the solstice is and carry on from that.”
Pope Gregory XIII sought to address that problem in the 16th century with the Gregorian Calendar, which adds leap days in years divisible by four, unless the year is also divisible by 100. In years that are 400, a leap day is still added.
Why add the extra day in February? Boxer, the data scientist, says the Romans considered it an unlucky month. On top of that, they were deeply suspicious of odd numbers. Leap day used to be on the 24th but because it only had 28 days to start, they pushed it into February.
He said on the one hand that you don’t want a calendar that confuses you with how many days it will be from one year to the next. “But on the other hand, you want to make sure that winter holidays, too, in the winter and summer holidays, stay in the summer, especially if your holidays are related to things like agriculture, harvest holidays and whatnot.”
“If your birthday was on a Tuesday last year, you’re going to skip over Wednesday and you’ll have a birthday on a Thursday,” said Faherty. “Not to mention those poor people that are born on February 29, a day that only exists every four years.”
There are about 5 million people worldwide on Feb. 29 according to the History Channel. The list of so-called “leaplings” includes celebrities such as motivational speaker Tony Robbins and hip-hop artist Ja Rule. The people’s odds of joining their ranks are very small.
It’s not always possible to get a birth date on many online forms. Raenell Dawn, the co-founder of the Honor Society of Leap Year Day Babies, told NPR in 2020 that those logistics can cause trouble, especially when it comes to things like driver’s license expirations. But she also said there’s no reason for leaplings to change their birth date.
She said that the humans need to program the computer correctly. “‘Cause February 29 is everyone’s extra day. It is a day that began in 45 B.C. It is the most important date because it keeps the calendar in line with the seasons.
A decades-old French satirical newspaper, La Bougie du Sapeur, goes to print only on Feb. 29 — this year included. Anthony, Texas, is known as theLeap Year Capital of the World.
Anthony, Texas, and Anthony, New Mexico, on the other side of the state line, received that designation from Congress in 1988 because of a number of leap year births within the two towns.
In years past, he said, the community marked leap day with a parade that stretched between the two towns of Anthony. The Texas side is holding a two-day leap year festival with live music, local vendors and an exclusive barbecue dinner for leap day babies.
“This is an opportunity for the community to take pride in the fact that they live in the leap year capital of the world, and a great chance for everyone from everywhere to join us and enjoy the true beauty of our lovely town,” Turner added.
Why does leap day occur? Explaining it with the date: Katherine Parkin says a lot of people will get married on February 29th
Katherine Parkin, a history professor at Monmouth University, said she doesn’t believe any of the myths are true — but doesn’t think they had to be in order to take hold, which they did in America as early as the 1780s.
“And in the case of marriage, to have a reversal of that power, I think is really unusual,” she added. It ties perfectly with the date. Where did it come from? I think it plays well into the imagination of people.
She says postcards portray women who propose to men as desperate, unattractive and aggressive, which is why people would send each other postcards across all kinds of relationships.
Several people that responded to the callout said they got married on February 29th. Only one explicitly mentioned gender roles.
“I believe that on this day a woman can propose?” wrote Suzanne Forbes. “If so, I plan on proposing to myself in a beautiful southern setting (likely [Georgia], while solo kayaking)!”
Source: Why do we leap day? We remind you (so you can forget for another 4 years)
Why do we leap day? We remind you (so you can forget for another 4 years): The Hanke-Henry Permanent Calendar
That’s why he and Johns Hopkins astrophysics professor Dick Henry have created the Hanke–Henry Permanent Calendar, a proposal for a new calendar that would implement an occasional leap week rather than leap day.
Hanke said that the calendar never changes. The date would be the same. Every year, year after year after year… January 1st is always on a Monday. July 4th is not on a Monday. December 25th, Christmas, is always on a Monday.”
The year is split into four three-month quarters with the same number of days. In the first and third months, there would be 30 days and 31 days, respectively. Hanke says that the extra seven days at the end of December would eliminate calendar drift.
Hanke points to studies in the United Kingdom that show the economic benefits of having public holidays on weekends. He believes the system can be implemented by executive order and he and Henry have drafted something just in case.
Source: Why do we leap day? We remind you (so you can forget for another 4 years)
Suicide & Crisis Life in the Thermonuclear Universe: Claire Harbage and the U.S. Airman Dies of Self-Immolation
“But we don’t do that,” she said. “We gave it an interval and we follow that, so now we’re stuck. To fix the plight of the human needing a document that shows where the Earth is falling around, you have to enter these leap days.
Two years have passed since Russia invaded Ukraine. NPR photographer and visuals editor Claire Harbage has realized that life goes on for those in the middle of a long war. Harbage, sharing her experience of covering the war, contrasts the initial resilience and perseverance of the first year with the current sense of stagnation as people confront impossible choices for survival.
The Federal Trade Commission is suing to block the merger of two supermarket chains in the United States. If they’re combined, it would be the biggest U.S. grocery merger in recent history. Kroger owns many stores. Albertsons, its top direct competitor, owns stores like Safeway, Vons and Jewel-Osco. The merger would eliminate competition for shoppers and workers says the FTC.
If you or someone you know may be considering suicide, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by dialing 9-8-8 or the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741.
Source: Young Michigan voters are ‘uncommitted’ to Biden; U.S. airman dies of self-immolation
The War in Gaza and the Electoral Correlation: The Importance of the First Day in Israel’s War on the Future of Democracy
A member of the Air Force died after setting himself on fire outside the Israeli Embassy in D.C. In a video leading up to the incident, Aaron Bushnell, 25, said it was an act of protest against Israel’s war in Gaza and that he would “no longer be complicit in genocide.”
Democratic and Republican voters in Michigan head to the primaries today. President Biden and former President Donald Trump are expected to win their parties’ nominations. They want Democrats to vote uncommitted because of Biden’s support for the war in Gaza.
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