Have you ever wondered why we have a leap year? Instead of having 365 days in a year, every four years will have 366 days.

A leap year happens once every four years to keep the calendar year synchronized with the astronomical year or seasonal year. The added day helps to maintain the accuracy of our calendar system to Earth’s orbit around the Sun.

Leap Year was first introduced by Julius Caesar way back in 46 B.C., but he was influenced by the Egyptians to create it. The Egyptians followed the 355-day year to follow the sun revolving around the world.

Leap years are not just a man-made adjustment, they have a scientific basis. The Earth’s orbit around the sun takes approximately 365.24 days. Without the adjustment of adding an extra day every four years, our calendars would gradually fall out of sync with the solar year. The leap year correction helps ensure that our calendars remain in harmony with the astronomical events.

Something you probably didn’t know is leap year babies is they are called “leapers” or “leaplings.” In fact, in our school, we have one student who has a leap-year birthday. Sophomore Julia Oliveira has the delight of celebrating her birthday on February 29. 

Oliveira enjoys joking about how she has only had 3 real birthdays in her past, and how she will be turning four years old tomorrow. This will be a funny ongoing joke for the rest of her life.

Oliveira’s parents saved the newspaper with her birth announcement from February 29, 2008.

“My parents saved the newspaper on the date I was born with my newborn picture of me in the hospital which shows how rare and cool my birthday is!”

When Oliveira was younger, she liked to have the freedom to pick which day she wanted to celebrate. She would either do February 28 or what she currently does which is to celebrate on March 1. 

“When I was much younger I loved having the freedom to celebrate my birthday on February 28 because I liked being able to celebrate a day early.”

Oliveira continued, “I love joking around about being three (but will be four this year) even if that means I have to go into a whole explanation as to why I’m only three years old because people never believe me.”

Fun Leap Year Facts

• Starting in the early 1900s an Irish Tradition began on Feb. 29 as a day when women would propose to men. 
• More than 4 million people around the world are leaplings.
• Some cultures consider Feb. 29 an unlucky day.
• The Summer Olympics are held every four years on Leap Years.
• Feb. 29 is not really a legal day: Many companies do not recognize Leap Day as a “valid day.” They make leapers choose Feb. 28 or March 1 as their birthday instead.
• Lots of people work for free on Feb. 29: Most employees who are paid fixed monthly incomes will work for free on Feb. 29 because their wages are likely not calculated to include the extra day.