Invented over 2,000 years ago, leap years are a necessary need for the internationally used Georgian calendar. Without it, seasons would be traditionally indistinguishable.
2020 is special because it’s a leap year and possesses an extra day. Occurring almost every four years, Feb. 29 is recognized as a leap day and possesses a more complicated backstory than one might think.
Leap days keep the Gregorian calendar aligned with Earth’s revolutions around the Sun, which takes approximately 365.242189 days, or 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 45 seconds and that number continually shrinks on a minuscule scale with each passing year. This is recognized as a tropical year and it starts on the March equinox.
The Gregorian calendar only possesses 365 days and replaced its predecessor, the Julian calendar nearly 1,500 years ago. If we didn’t add a leap day on Feb. 29 almost every four years, each calendar year would begin about 6 hours before the Earth completes its revolution around the Sun.
Winter 2019-2020
Spring 2020
Summer 2020
Autumn 2020
Duration 89 days, 20 hours, 31 minutes
Without our leap years, our understanding of time and recognition of traditional seasons would drift out of sync. With a deviation of approximately 6 hours per year, the seasons would shift by about 24 calendar days within 100 years. If this were allowed to happen those who reside within the Northern Hemisphere would be celebrating Christmas in the middle of summer after the course of a few centuries.
According to timeanddate.com, leap days fix that error by giving Earth the additional time it needs to complete a full circle around the Sun.
Forecasting leap years
In order to be identifiable as a leap year, the year must pass a series of necessary criteria.
- The year must be evenly divisible by four.
- The year must be divisible by 400
- If the year can also be divisible by 100, it is not a leap year
If leap years were never created the weather and overall recognition of the climate would remain the same, but the month and year would be starkly different.
Coincidently, in DC Comic’s continuity, Superman’s birthday falls on the leap day of every leap year, but that’s a story for tomorrow. Unmarked graphics are courtesy timeanddate.com
[…] Almost every four years the Georgian calendar, which is the internationally recognized timetable used across the planet, receives its necessary realignment in the form of a leap year. […]