Sunday 28 February 2016

4 facts for the day that comes after every 4 years

Anna February 28, 2016 No comments

Two women have given birth to three leap day babies, according to the New York Daily News. The Henriksen family from Norway had their children on leap days in 1960, 1964 and 1968. The most recent family to tie the record is the Estes family from Utah. Their children were born in 2004, 2008 and 2012.
Julius Caesear introduced the idea when he ordered his astronomer, Sosigenes, to simplify the calendar. Sosigenes opted for the 365-day year with an extra day every four years to scoop up the extra hours. But he created too many leap years. Every 400 years, there are an three extra days, so to compensate, centuries must be divisible by 400 to count as leap years. Years like 1700, 1800 and 1900 are only 365 days long, rather than 366.
Leap years in history: During leap years, George Armstrong Custer fought the Battle of the Little Bighorn (1876), the Titanic sank (1912), Benjamin Franklin proved that lightning is electricity (1752) and and gold was discovered in California (1848).
The tradition of women proposing on leap day is thought to date back to 5th-century Ireland when St Bridget complained to St Patrick that women had to wait too long for suitors to propose. He then gave women a single day in a leap year to pop the question – the last day of the shortest month. Legend has it that Brigid then dropped to a knee and proposed to Patrick that instant, but he refused, kissing her on the cheek and offering a silk gown to soften the blow.