The lore of the leap year is as common as legends get. Most people believe that there are exactly 365 days in a year but in fact the earth turns at about 365 and a quarter times on its axis and that is what makes up the days in our calendar. So by the time the earth has completed a full year’s orbit around the sun, we are slightly off with our calendar. Which is why we have the need for leap year. A leap year which happens once every 4 years is simply a year in which the month of February has one extra day in it, making that year have a total of 366 days.

Those few folks born on the last day of February of a leap year are typically called leaplings or leapers. Since the real date of their birthday comes but once every 4 years, they tend to celebrate their birth on March 1st, since February 29th comes but once every four years.

In the early days in Ireland, yearning females who where unhappy about having to wait so long for their man to ask for their hand in marriage could propose on the last day of February during the leap year. This is probably we we got the tradition in the U.S. known as Sadie Hawkins day in which a women was given the right to run after unmarried men to propose.

The Greeks have long believed that couples have bad luck if they marry during a leap year. Apparently one in five engaged couples in Greece to this day will avoid planning their wedding during a leap year based on this ancient legend.

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