...family, friends, home and other tidbits of a blessed life

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Happy Leap Day!

ABC.com
You've just been given a gift.
Twenty-four extra hours.
One day.
What will you do with your day?





Will you so something self indulgent?



interactiveinsightsgroup.com
 Will you get something done?


thekindlife.com
Will you do something kind?

Leap year facts:

From About.com:
Leap years are years with 366 days, instead of the usual 365. Leap years are necessary because the actual length of a year is 365.242 days, not 365 days, as commonly stated. Basically, leap years occur every 4 years, and years that are evenly divisible by 4 (2004, for example) have 366 days. This extra day is added to the calendar on February 29th.
However, there is one exception to the leap year rule involving century years, like the year 1900. Since the year is slightly less than 365.25 days long, adding an extra day every 4 years results in about 3 extra days being added over a period of 400 years. For this reason, only 1 out of every 4 century years is considered as a leap year. Century years are only considered as leap years if they are evenly divisible by 400. Therefore, 1700, 1800, 1900 were not leap years, and 2100 will not be a leap year. But 1600 and 2000 were leap years, because those year numbers are evenly divisible by 400.

Julius Caesar, Father of Leap Year

Julius Caesar was behind the origin of leap year in 45 BC. The early Romans had a 355 day calendar and to keep festivals occurring around the same season each year a 22 or 23 day month was created every second year. Julius Caesar decided to simplify things and added days to different months of the year to create the 365 day calendar, the actual calculation were made by Caesar's astronomer, Sosigenes. Every fourth year following the 28th day of Februarius (February 29th) one day was to be added, making every fourth year a leap year. In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII further refined the calendar with the rule that leap day would occur in any year divisible by 4 as described above.

From Time and Date.com:

Leap Day – famous birthdays and events

Illustration image
According to the Guinness Book of Records, the only verified example of a family producing three consecutive generations born on February 29 is that of the Keogh family.
Peter Anthony was born in Ireland on February 29, 1940, while his son Peter Eric was born on the Leap Day in the United Kingdom (UK) in 1964. His daughter, Bethany Wealth, was, in turn, born in the UK on February 29, 1996.
What is a Leap Year and when is the next one?
When and what is Leap Day?
A Norwegian family named Henriksen from Andenes holds the official record of number of children born on February 29. Mrs. Karin Henriksen gave birth to 3 children on consecutive February 29; her daughter Heidi in 1960 and her sons Olav and Leif-Martin in 1964 and 1968 respectively.
Leap Day Traditions and Superstitions

Celebrity Leap Day birthdays

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Some famous people born on February 29 include:
  • 1468 – Pope Paul III (d. 1549)
  • 1792 – Gioacchino Rossini, Italian composer (William Tell, The Barber of Seville) (d. 1868)
  • 1896 – Morarji Desai, former Indian prime minister (d. 1995)
  • 1916 – Dinah Shore, American singer (d. 1994)
  • 1924 – Al Rosen, American baseball player
  • 1924 – Carlos Humberto Romero, former president of El Salvador
  • 1960 – Anthony (Tony) Robbins, American motivational speaker
  • 1964 – Lyndon Byers, Canadian hockey player
  • 1972 – Antonio Sabàto Jr, Italian-born actor
  • 1976 – Ja Rule, American rapper and actor
  • 1980 – Chris Conley, American musician and songwriter/composer


As for me, I will take this day to do something that pleases God, something that rights a wrong and ... oh well, I'll try!

6 comments:

Alycia Nichols said...

Hi, Marlis! I'm going to use this "extra day" to get some things done that I've been putting off. We always say there just aren't enough hours in a day to get everything done. Well, now we have a whole bonus 24 hours that I'm going to take advantage of!!!! :-) Mmmmm...then maybe I'll go wish Antonio Sabato, Jr. a big ol' happy birthday in person! ;-)

On Crooked Creek said...

Marlis,
Hm~m~m doing laundry and baking some individual shortcakes was not quite what I had in mind to do with this "extra" day, but thank you for this reminder that each day should be filled with kindness...for I will continue to strive for that in each and every day!
Fondly,
Pat

RhondaBuss said...

I spent the day with a friend. Such a treat!

Debbie said...

I used my leap day to be Leap List Day and finished some things on my February To Do list. It was like found time!

Well, actually, since the month is too short already, it wasn't much time was it?

The Tablescaper said...

Marlis:

Neat post. Lots of fun facts I wasn't aware of.

- The Tablescaper

Kathleen said...

I remember my first year teaching, I had the sweetest little girl in my class of 31. Her name was Lorraine La Penna and she was a leap day baby. I had her again when I loved up to fifth grade. I always wonder about her, and where she is in life. She would be in her 40's now.
Hope leap day gave you time you needed!

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