Next Saturday 29 February is a leap day. A leap day is an extra day added to every fourth year to keep the calendar in line with the solar year. Since we only have one 29 February every four years, it is a day worthy of celebration. Here are some ideas to get you started.
20 Fun facts about leap years
- A leap year occurs once every four years.
- A leap year has 366 days instead of the 365 days of other years.
- The extra day added to a leap year is 29 February.
- The extra day is added to keep the calendar year in line with the seasons and astronomical calendar.
- The number of leap years are all divisible by 4; for example, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020, 2024, 2028.
- However, although all hundred years are divisible by 4, not all hundred years are leap years. Hundred years are only leap years if they are divisible by 400. So, while 2000 was a leap year, the next hundred year to be a leap year will be 2400.
- Leap years were first introduced by Julius Caesar over 2000 years ago with the Julian calendar. His rule was to add a leap day to every year that was divisible by 4.
- The leap year as we now know it, with the hundred year rule, was introduced by Pope Gregory VIII in 1582. In that year, Pope Gregory had to remove ten days from calendar to keep it in sync with the solar year. The calendar we still use, the Gregorian Calendar, is named after him.
Continue reading: Leap into learning with leap year fun – readilearn
Norah Colvin 
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