Happy Leap Day? Fun Facts For The Once-Every-Four-Years Day

A leap year comes approximately every four years. The reason for this extra day is because most calendars are based on the assumption that there are 365 days in a year when in fact, there are actually 365 and one-quarter days in a year. In order to keep our modern Gregorian calendar in sync with the tropical calendar we add an extra day to February every four years.

Those born in a leap year can look at it as a gift or a curse; however, there are several interesting facts about this day you may not know.

• No year that is divisible by 100 can be a leap year unless it can be divided by 400. The year 2000 was a leap year, while the year 1900 was not.
• Leap year babies born in the year 1884 did not celebrate a single birthday on their actual birth date throughout their teenage years. February 29 fell on the year those individuals turned 12.
• The tradition of women proposing to men on leap year day dates all the way back to fifth century Ireland.
• People born on February 29 are all invited to join the Honor Society of Leap Year Day Babies.
• According to the Guinness Book of Records, there are world record holders both of a family producing three consecutive generations born on February 29 and of the number of children born on February 29 in the same family.
• People born on leap year’s day are called leaplings.
• The chances of having a leap year birthday are 1 in 1,461.
• In Greece it’s said to be unlucky for couples to marry during a Leap Year, and especially on Leap Day.