Guide Note: Leap Year was created to bring the Gregorian calendar in line with the earth’s orbit around the sun. Most commonly, a Leap Year occurs every four years. In a Gregorian Leap Year, the month of February has 29 days as opposed to its usual 28 days.
Fast Facts:
- Most Leap Years are divisible by four
- Those born on February 29 are called leaplings, leapers, or leapies
- Julius Caesar first declared a leap year in 45 B.C.
- Pope Gregory XIII established the Gregorian calendar
- Li’l Abner’s Sadie Hawkins Day debuted on February 29
- Greeks are superstitious about marriage in Leap Year
- Less than 1 in 1500 people are born on Leap Year day
- Solid helium was created on February 29, 1908
- Pirates of Penzance is based on February 29
