Today I wish I were celebrating Leap Year! ; )
As you know, we get an extra day today in February this year because it's Leap Year. Leap years are those with 366 days, instead of 365. The 365 days of the annual calendar are intended to match with the solar year, the time it takes Earth to complete its orbit around the sun. However, the actual time taken by Earth is 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 46 seconds. So, the calendar and solar years don't completely match. An extra is added to the calendar on February 29 (known as Leap Day) during Leap Years, which occur every 4 years (except some century years). Leap years are evenly divisible by 4. Some say that the Egyptians were the first to come up with the idea of adding a leap day once every 4 years to keep the solar year and calendar year in sync. However, the Romans mostly get the credit by adopting this solution for its calendar and were the first to designate February 29 as the extra day. Leap year originated around 45 BC with Julius Caesar, but was refined in 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII.
Here's an interesting video that provides a great description of Leap Year and why it is needed:
What is a Leap Year exactly?
As posted on YouTube by WatchMoJo
For many women, today is a special day, an opportunity to leap into action and propose to a man. It's believed that the Leap Year tradition started in the 5th centuray Ireland when St Bridget complained to St Patrick about women having to wait so long for men to propose. According to the legend, St Patrick designated this one day in February during Leap Year as the day when females could propose. USA Weekend Magazine reported in 2004that 70% of Americans responding to a survey conducted by Korbel Champagne agreed that it's socially acceptable for women to propose to men, almost 50% of all women would propose to their significant other, and 80% of men would accept a proposal from their significant other. Wow, it seems that there's a shift in societal roles. You may recall the Friends episode where Monica proposes to Chandler. You may also recall the Halle Berry also proposed to her now-former husband.
Here's a cute little music video to Maria Taylor's song "Leap Year"
As posted on YouTube by sd2h
If you're planning to pop the question to your beau tonight, here are some links that may help:
The Perfect Proposal by Andre Across at AskMen.com
How to Propose Marriage by Fred Cuellar from HOWTODOTHINGS.com
eHow's How to Propose Marriage to a Man
He may not be ready.
You may be beating him to the punch line.
He may be offended.
Interesting facts....
The chances of being born on leap day: about 1 in 1500.
Number of people born on leap day: 187,000 in the US and 4 million in the world
Famous people born on Leap Day:
Gioacchino Rossini, the Italian composer
Herman Hollerith
Jimmy Dorsey
Dinah Shore
Dennis Farina
Anthony Robbins
Antonio Sabato, Jr.
I've often wondered when they celebrate their birthdays on non-Leap Year years?
Here's a fun little video describing Leap Year and birthdays by the HBO Children's Television Workshop
As posted on YouTube by sterrry1
No comments:
Post a Comment