2008 A Leap Year
A Leap Year (or intercalary year) is a year containing one or more extra days (or, in case of lunisolar calendars, an extra month) in order to keep the calendar year synchronised with the astronomical or seasonal year. For example, February would have 29 days in a leap year instead of the usual 28. February 29 is a day added into a leap year, a 60th day of the Gregorian calendar. There are 306 days remaining till the end of the year.
February 29 is also known as bissextile day. A year which has a February 29 is, by definition, a leap year. This date occurs only every four years, in years evenly divisible by 4, such as 1988, 1996, 2008 or 2016, with the exceptions in century years not divisible by 400, such as 1900.
Leapling:
A person who was born on 29 February may be called a “leapling”. In non-leap years they usually celebrate their birthday on 28 February or 1 March. So as our Sri Morarji Ranchhodji Desai an Indian freedom fighter and the first Prime Minister born on February 29, 1896.
Folk Traditions of leap year:
There is a tradition, said to go back to Saint Patrick and Brigid of Kildare in 5th century Ireland, but apparently not attested before the 19th century, whereby women may make marriage proposals only in leap years.
Supposedly (but disputed), in a 1288 law by Queen Margaret of Scotland (then age five and living in Norway), fines were levied if the proposal was refused by the man; compensation ranged from a kiss to £1 to a silk gown, in order to soften the blow. Because men felt that put them at too great a risk, the tradition was in some places tightened to restricting female proposals to 29 February.
In Greece, it is believed that getting married in a leap year is bad luck for the couple. Thus, mainly in the middle of the past century, couples avoided setting a marriage date in a leap year.
For more check Wikipedia
(1 votes, average: 3 out of 5)
Loading ...
Loading ...