February 29, 2024 – The Leap Day

Every four years we add an extra day to the calendar in the form of February 29, also known as Leap Day. It was necessary to add a day to ensure that our calendar stays in line with the Earth’s movement around the sun. While the modern calendar contains 365 days, the actual time it takes for Earth to orbit the sun is slightly longer—roughly 365.2421 days. The difference might seem negligible, but over decades and centuries that missing quarter of a day per year can add up. To ensure consistency with the true astronomical year, it is necessary to periodically add in an extra day – so that we are in sync with the heavens.

Here are some interesting facts about leap years (with help from the website “history.com”):

1. Many ancient calendars had entire leap months. Original Roman calendars had ten months and an ill-defined period of winter. Eventually they added January and February to their calendar to get to our existing 12 month calendar
2. Julius Caesar introduced Leap Day, with help from the Egyptians. During his time in Egypt, Caesar became convinced of the superiority of the Egyptian solar calendar, which featured 365 days. Caesar and the philosopher Sosigenes of Alexandria made one important modification: instead of relying on the stars, they would simply add a day to every fourth year.
3. People born on Leap Day are called ‘Leaplings’. Do you know someone who was born on February 29? We have at least one person at Zion who was born on a leap day. Dinah Shore (born 1916), speaker Tony Robbins (born 1960) and hip-hop artist Ja Rule (born 1976)—are leaplings.

I am not against leap day – and we must remember to recognize those who are fortunate enough to be born on a leap day. At least you can tell them “You look great for your age…”.

Pastor Dave