Leap Years

February is completely unique for many reasons. It is the only month to have less than 30 days, the only month that can have 4 complete weeks, and of course the only month that changes the amount of days it has thanks to what we call ‘Leap Years’. So we all know that Leap Years occur every 4 years but when did this start, why did it start and who decided that woman can ask men to marry them on February 29th?

As you can guess, an extra day is added in order to keep the calendar as we know it in line with the seasons. If we didn’t have leap years, eventually the Northern Hemisphere would be like our Southern Hemisphere cousins and sitting on the beach for Christmas dinner. Our calendar year is 6 hours short of the seasonal year, hence adding an extra day every 4 years (6 x 4 = 24 hours).

However, now it gets even more confusing as even by doing that we are still slightly off kilter. So in order to redress the balance, years that are divisible by 100 are NOT leap years. But if they are divisible by 400 then they are. Yes, I’m getting confused too. This is why 2000 was a leap year whilst 1700, 1800 and 1900 were not.

Adding a day to the year dates back as far as 46BC when the Julian calendar was developed. This practise was kept when the Gregorian calendar (the one we use today) was created.

So women proposing to men? What’s that all about. Well, there are two stories to back this up so you choose which one sounds right.

In the Irish Celtic tradition, St Bridget made a deal with St Patrick to allow women to propose to men every four years. This old custom was probably made to balance the traditional roles of men and women in a similar way to how the leap day balances the calendar.

According to the Scots, a 1288 law by Queen Margaret of Scotland required that fines be levied if a marriage proposal was refused by the man; compensation ranged from a kiss to £1 to a silk gown. Because men felt that put them at too great a risk, the tradition was in some places tightened to restricting female proposals to only Leap Day.

Similar traditions happen in other countries but it is primarily followed through with in the British Isles.

Finally, the Summer Olympics is always in a leap year and likewise for the UEFA European Football Championships.