Writing Prompt: Write a new post in response to today’s one-word prompt.
Wait, What exactly is it that you want me to do? Leap as in jump, well that’s not gonna happen. I don’t feel great, It’s 7am and I’m still on bed…. maybe next leap day. You want me to write about how I leaped into action and saved the day? Well that’s not gonna happen… I don’t feel great; it’s 7am and I’m still in bed.
How about how I promised myself that I would go to the gym today (who promises themselves that) which is stupid because I don’t feel great, it’s 7am and I’m still in bed. But I would leap out of bed for coffee (which I totally need to make… because as I have repeated several times ) I don’t feel great, it’s 7am and I’m still in bed!!!
So for those of you who feel great, where it’s not 7am and totally being productive and NOT in bed…..
Why do we have leap years?
A leap year, where an extra day is added to the end of February every four years, is down to the solar system’s disparity with the Gregorian calendar. A complete orbit of the earth around the sun takes exactly 365.2422 days to complete, but the Gregorian calendar uses 365 days. So leap seconds – and leap years – are added as means of keeping our clocks (and calendars) in sync with the Earth and its seasons.
Why does the extra day fall in February?
All the other months in the Julian calendar have 30 or 31 days, but February lost out to the ego of Roman Emperor Caesar Augustus. Under his predecessor Julius Caesar, Feb had 30 days and the month named after him – July – had 31. August had only 29 days. When Caesar Augustus became Emperor he added two days to ‘his’ month to make August the same as July. So February lost out to August in the battle of the extra days.
Technically, a leap year isn’t every four years
The year 2000 was a leap year, but the years 1700, 1800 and 1900 were not. There’s a leap year every year that is divisible by four, except for years that are both divisible by 100 and not divisible by 400. The added rule about centuries (versus just every four years) was an additional fix to make up for the fact that an extra day every four years is too much of a correction.
Julius Caesar vs Pope Gregory
Pope Gregory XIII (1502-1585) The Roman calendar used to have 355 days with an extra 22-day month every two years until Julius Caesar became emperor in the 1st Century and ordered his astronomer Sosigenes to devise something better. Sosigenes decided on a 365-day year with an extra day every four years to incorporate the extra hours, and so February 29th was born. As an earth year is not exactly 365.25 days long Pope Gregory XIII’s astronomers decided to lose three days every 400 years when they introduced the Gregorian calendar in 1582. The math has worked ever since but the system will need to be rethought in about 10,000 years’ time. Perhaps mankind’s robot overlords will think of something.
What if you’re born on February 29?
The chances of having a leap birthday are one in 1,461. People who are born on February 29 are referred to as “leaplings”, or “leapers”. In non-leap years, many leaplings choose to celebrate their birthday on either February 28 or March 1, while purists stick to February 29 for the occasion. Some suggest those born before midday on February 29 should celebrate their birthdays on February 28, while those born in the afternoon and evening of the 28th should celebrate their special day on March 1 (source)
So there you have it peeps, I’ve actually written absolutely nothing because I don’t feel that great, it’s 7am and I’m still in bed…. strange… I feel like I keep repeating myself…
Until Next Time,
Random Acts of Snark 