JUST FOR FUN
Fancy some leap year facts to celebrate 29 Feb?
But why?
We all know that a day is 24 hours long, right? Well kinda… This is just an average. Due to the earth’s position as it moves around the sun, days are rarely, if ever, bang-on 24 hours long. It actually takes the Earth about 365.242189 days – or 365 days and around 6 hours – to circle once around the sun.
The leap year aims to make sure that our calendar still works in relation to the solar year, so that each month properly aligns with the seasons. If we didn’t add an extra day every four years, we’d, in effect, lose almost six hours a year. And after a century, our calendar would be off by about 24 days. Confusing, absolutely. But it works!
What’s the law?
The date was formally recognised in law only with the adoption of the Calendar Act in 1750 in the UK.
And this may have encouraged people to act outside of convention – for example, women proposing.
These days, legal systems around the world don’t always agree on the ‘legal’ birthday of those born on the 29th, with the UK settling on 1 March. But if your 18th birthday falls on a leap day, you might want to take a trip to New Zealand, where you’ll be considered legally ‘of age’ on 28 February!
Party time?
Most of us can’t wait for our birthday to come round, but those born on 29 February have a longer wait than most. Known as leaplings, many choose to celebrate on either 28 February or 1 March instead.
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