Leap Day comes every four years (sorta)
Why is 2008 a leap year? Which years are leap years? Can you tell me when the next leap year will be? Is there a way to know if a year is a leap year or not? What makes a given year a leap year?
Most years have 365 days but leap years have 366 days in them. The extra day, February 29, makes up for the difference between a 365 day calendar and the earth's actual rotation around the sun. Leap years happen 97 years out of every 400, not once every 4 years as is commonly assumed. This means that years that are divisible by 4 aren't necessarily leap years.
Leap years are divisible by 4 unless the year is divisible by 100 and is also divisible by 400. Therefore 1600 and 2000 were leap years and 2400 and 2800 will be too. The years that aren't leap years are called "common years". The National Maritime Museum has more information on leap years.
Expressed in pseudocode:
If ((year modulo 4 is 0) and (year modulo 100 is not 0)) or (year modulo 400 is 0) Then
leapYear = true
Else
leapYear = false
End if
This is a list of all the leap years in the 20th and 21st centuries:
1904, 1908, 1912, 1916, 1920, 1924, 1928, 1932, 1936, 1940, 1944, 1948, 1952, 1956, 1960, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020, 2024, 2028, 2032, 2036, 2040, 2044, 2048, 2052, 2056, 2060, 2064, 2068, 2072, 2076, 2080, 2084, 2088, 2092, 2096
Not everyone has a birthday every year. If you were born on Leap Day your birthday only comes every 4 years. Those born on February 29th are called leaplings. Who knew?
Who was born on Leap Day? Who's a leapling? Ja Rule (1976), Tony Robbins (1960), Dennis Farina (1944), Tempest Storm (1928), Al Rosen (1924), Dinah Shore (1916), Dee Alexander Brown II (1908), Jimmy Dorsey (1904), Gioacchino Rossini (1792), Ann Lee (1736), and John Byrom (1692).
Statistically, about one in 1,461 births are a leapling; there are an estimated 200,000 in the US and 4.1 million worldwide.
- Schelly Talalay Dardashti, "Happy Birthday...Not!," The Jerusalem Post, February 23, 2001
Sadie Hawkins Day is synonymous with February 29th, the day when women can ask men to marry them (according to Li'l Abner). St. Patrick bowed to St. Bridget's complaints and set Feb 29th as the day when could ask men to marry them. Queen Margaret in Scotland decreed the same in 1288.
February 29 is called an intercalary day.
In 1504 Christopher Columbus used his knowledge of a lunar eclipse that night to convince Native Americans in Jamaica to provide him with supplies. In 1960 the first Playboy Club opened in Chicago. In 1968 Dr. Jocelyn Bell Burnell discovers the first pulsar.
Anthony TX claims to be the Leap Year Capital of the World. Texans...
In years past Azalea Sofware has given away calendars, each featuring the photography of Jerry Whiting (who happens to be Azalea's Pres/CEO). Previous years have had photos of neon, orchids, graffiti, and signs.
We look forward to each year's calendars as much if not more than our family, friends, and business partners do. They're fun and last all year long!
2009 has been an unusually "challenging" year for us, as it has been for countless others around the world. The Great Recession has affected us as it has many small businesses and as a result we've been forced to lay off staff, relocate to a smaller office, cut healthcare benefits, and reduce the compensation for those who are still here. In 17 years of doing business, we've never seen anything like this.
Lemons? Lemonade! We may not be printing and mailing a calendar this year but that doesn't mean we can't share one with you.
We invite you to download and print our free 2010 calendars. You can print them on your black & white laser printer, or on a color inkjet (hint, hint). Your local copy shop probably has a spiffy color printer too.
The Azalea Software 2010 calendar features pictures of industrial textures photographed in Seattle's SoDo neighborhood. (It reminds Jerry of Cleveland, his hometown.) Each month highlights the holidays and celebrations we honor. And yes, those are our birthdays. Witty cards, lavish gifts, exotic flowers, PayPal out of the blue, and piles of cash are all gladly accepted.
The second calendar is a barcode nerd calendar. It's simple year-at-a-glance one page calendar. Our favorite holidays are in bold and the months are in Code 39 (JAN-DEC, left to right, top to bottom). You'll figure it out. Bonus points if you get the foto.
