The Rhyme and Reason Behind Leap Years
Leap years are necessary to keep our calendar in alignment with the Earth's revolutions around the sun. Why?
One Earth Revolution Around the Sun = 365 days + 5 hours + 48 minutes + 46 seconds. This means that since our calendar has exactly 365 days in a year, we would lose almost six hours from our calendar each year. Calculated forward, we would lose a whole day over a four year period.
Our calendar is based off of the Roman calendar, originally a 10-month calendar of March through December. In 700 BCE the Romans added January and February to reflect a Lunar calendar, thus making February the last month of the year.
In his infinite wisdom, Julius Ceasar introduced Leap Year around 45 BCE, by adding an additional day to the end of the year (February 29th) to be used every four years, to get our lost time back.
So, What are you going to do with these extra 24 hours?
For Me, I am going to take my work hours and call on clients that I have spoken to in a long time, rekindle business relationships; take my family to a nice dinner and reflect on events of the last four years; and spend my night time hours dreaming of the things to come until our next Leap Year.