Today is a gift! A bonus 24 hours. So, how will you spend your extra day? To commemorate Leap Day 2012, here is a bit of history, some fun facts, suggestions on how to spend your extra day, and some last minute freebies.
Why Do We Need Leap Day?
It takes the Earth 365 days, 5 hours, 49 minutes and 16 seconds to cycle around the sun and through the seasons. Therefore, our year is not exactly 365 days. Over time, the extra quarter of a day adds up, and without Leap Day, the calendar would be one day out of sync with the seasons. After 30 years, it would be about a week off, and after 100 years, it would be nearly a month off. Without leap year, if you lived to be 90 years old, your birthday would have drifted by three weeks.
The History of Leap Year:
According to Yahoo.com, Leap Year has been around for 2,000 years, since Julius Caesar created the 365-day calendar. However, Caesar’s astronomer, Sosigenes, gets credit for adding an extra day in February every four years. The Egyptians were the first people to add a leap day every four years, but the Romans were the first to choose February 29th as the official date.
Ten Fun Facts about Leap Day:
The following fun facts about leap year were collected from Leapyearday.com and Womens-Place.com:
- Your chances of being born on a leap day are approximately 1 in 1500.
- There are about 187,000 people in the US and 4 million people in the world who were born on Leap Day.
- People born on Leap Day are called leaplings.
- In most states, leaplings must wait until March 1st to be eligible for any age-specific privileges (ages 16, 18, 21).
- Every now and then we have to skip a regularly scheduled leap year. This happens during specific century years.
- Century years are not leap years unless they can be evenly divided by 400. The years 1700, 1800 and 1900 were not leap years, but 1600 and 2000 were.
- When 2/29 is entered into a majority of websites it comes up as an invalid birth date.
- US Presidential elections and Summer Olympic Games are both held every four years and occur during leap years.
- In Greece, people believe it is bad luck to get married in a leap year. On the other hand, in Ireland, women can propose to a man.
- The next February 29th will come around again in 1,460 day
Denny’s 29% offyour entire check.
Android Market Music: On February 29, 29 albums can be purchased for $2.99 each, featuring artists like Taylor Swift, Mary J. Blige, Lady Antebellum, Bob Marley, The Rolling Stones, and Pink Floyd.
(MORE: Leap Day Birthdays: Famous (and Infamous) Feb. 29 Births)
Banana Republic: 29% off full-priced items with the use of the promo code BRLEAPYEAR; sister retailers Old Navy (code: ONSPRING) and Gap (code: GAPGIFT) also have discounts available on February 29—but they’re only knocking off 15%.
The Body Shop: 29% off all merchandise purchased online; used the code LEAPYEAR.
McDonald’s: Promotions vary based on location, but franchises in many parts of the country are offering special Leap Day discounts; for instance, Sausage Egg McMuffins and Big Macs are being sold on a buy one, get one free basis. Some offering 29¢ 10-piece chicken nuggets with the purchase of one full-price 10-piece nuggets. Other McDonald’s are selling 49¢ hamburgers and 69¢ cheeseburgers.
Subway: Get a free cookie with any purchase on February 29.
Jen Murrweiss RE/MAX Elite 