Being born on a Leap Year Day is an extremely rare occurrence. The probability of it happening is 0.07%, 4 times less likely than the average person.
Is a Leap Year Day baby lucky or unlucky?
That isn’t the question. But the answer lies on seeking the awareness of being chosen by the universe to enter the world on that notable day. Here is a brief essay I curated, just before my 7th birthday.
What is a Leap Year Day?
A Leap Year Day is a day in the calendar which occurs once every four years. The day is added at the end of the month of February, a month with only 28 days. February the 29th would make its humble appearance every 4 years.
When is a Leap Year?
Since the Leap Year Day occurs every 4 years on the Gregorian calendar, the years which are divisible by 4 are considered to be leap years.
The years that are not considered leap years can be categorised into 2 groups below.
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- A year that is not divisible by 4
- A year that is divisible by 100 but not 400
For example, the year 2100 will not be a leap year as it is divisible by 100 but not 400. My sympathy goes to the leapers born in 2096, as they get to celebrate their ‘first’ birthday 8 years later, in 2104. More details on this special exception later.
Who discovered the Leap Year?
The Leap Year Day came into existence in the year 45 B.C by Julius Caesar, a Roman General who brought rise to the Roman Empire.
The Julian calendar, which is very similar to our modern Gregorian calendar, had a simple approach. The rule was to add 1 day to every 4 years. It was a very sensible prediction during that time.
Why is there a Leap Year Day?
It takes slightly more than 365 days for the Earth to revolve the Sun.
A more accurate value would be 365 days, 5 hours & 48 minutes.
This is equivalent to about 365.2422 days. At first glance, 6 hours in a year might seem trivial. However, the offset would accumulate to 25 days for every 100 years, which is almost the duration of a month.
Modern humans roamed the Earth for dozens of centuries, thus enhancing the calendar dates to suit the natural cycle of the Earth.
How accurate is the Leap Year?
It was mentioned earlier that there is an exception to the Leap Year.
A non Leap Year has 365 days. If we just add 1 day every 4 years,
there would be (365 + 1/4) = 365.25 days in a year.
That would cause a shift of 1 day every 120 years.
In the Gregorian calendar, 3 Leap Year Days are removed every 400 years.
In a 400 year gap(E.g: 2001 – 2400), the years 2100, 2200 & 2300 are not Leap Years because they belong in the 2nd group mentioned earlier(A year that is divisible by 100 but not 400)
Hence, the Gregorian year has (365 + 1/4 – 3/400) = 365.2425 days in a year.
This would only cause a tiny shift of 1 day every 3330 years!
To wrap things up
A person born on a Leap Year Day can be described as a:
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- Leapling
- Leaper
- Leap Year Day Baby
During the non-Leap Years, there are a few date options to celebrate a birthday:
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- 28th February
- 1st March
- BOTH
- NO Celebration
Fret not, we still age at the same rate & enjoy legal privileges like everyone else.
I hope you enjoyed reading!
Leap with Luqe 