This will be a short Leap Day M&G event to give us a chance to visit with friends old and new. It will be held in the parking area of the Central Ridge District Park. The start time will be 10:00 am until 10:30 am or 30 minutes in duration.
For those that need a smiley for February 29th here is your chance to fill in your grid for that day.
February 29
Unit of Time
February 29, also known as leap day or leap year day, is a date added to most years that are divisible by 4, such as 2016, 2020, and 2024. A leap day is added in various solar calendars, including the Gregorian calendar standard in most of the world. Lunisolar calendars instead add a leap or intercalary month.
*****Why Add a Leap Day?*****
Leap days are needed to keep our calendar in alignment with the Earth's revolutions around the Sun.
It takes the Earth approximately 365.242189 days – or 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 45 seconds – to circle once around the Sun. This is called a tropical year.
Without an extra, or intercalary, day on February 29 nearly every four years, we would lose almost six hours every year. After only 100 years, a calendar without leap years would be off by approximately 24 days in relation to fixed seasonal days such as the vernal equinox or the winter solstice.
*****Caesar Introduced Leap Years*****
Roman general Julius Caesar implemented the first leap day in his Julian Calendar, which he introduced in 45 BCE. A leap day was added every four years. At the time, leap day was February 24, and February was the last month of the year.
*****Too Many Leap Years*****
However, adding a leap day every four years was too often and eventually, in 1582, Pope Gregory XIII introduced the Gregorian Calendar. This calendar, which we still use today, has a more precise formula for calculation of leap years, also known as bissextile years.