We remind you so you will forget for another 4 years, why do we leap day?
What Happened to Leap Day, and Why Did It Happen to Faherty? According to Alexander Boxer, Data Scientist and Author of A Scheme of Heaven: History, Astrology, and Economics
They recognized the pros and cons of having a birthday on a leap day. Several said that while they were teased at grade school, it gave them a fun fact for life and helped them develop a thicker skin, plus more days to celebrate.
Leap day means several different things to Alexander Boxer, a data scientist and the author of A Scheme of Heaven: The History of Astrology and the Search for Our Destiny in Data.
It’s an odd calendar hack meant to make up for the fact that there aren’t a flat number of days in a year. But there’s more to it than that.
Boxer states that it is a reminder that the calendar most people rely on every day is actually the product of multiple cultures, building off each other in an effort to understand time.
What happened to leap year and what should we do with our extra day? Experts in astronomy, history and economics were interviewed by Morning Edition.
But it actually takes Earth 365.242190 days to orbit the sun, says Jackie Faherty, an astronomer at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.
It seems like the current calendar system — with its leap days and years — may be here to stay, despite the many possible alternates. Faherty, the astronomer, says if someone truly wanted to keep track of their path around the sun, one could “build yourself a henge and know when the solstice is and carry on from that.”
The problem was solved in the 16th century with the Gregorian calendar which adds four leap days if the year is also distinguishable by 100. To make matters even more confusing, a leap day is still added in years divisible by 400.
There’s a day added to February. Boxer, the data scientist, says the Romans considered it an unlucky month. On top of that, they weren’t happy with the numbers. Because February only had 28 days to begin with, they “just shoved it into February,” though leap day used to be on the 24th.
“On the other hand, you don’t want a calendar that is too complicated to know how long it is going to be,” he said. On the other hand, it’s important to make sure that winter holidays, too, stay in the summer if your holidays are related to agriculture, harvest and whatnot.
“If your birthday was on a Tuesday last year, you’re going to skip over Wednesday and you’ll have a birthday on a Thursday,” said Faherty. There are poor people that are born on February 29 who don’t have the same day that exists every four years.
According to the History Channel, there are more than 5 million people around the world. Motivational speaker Tony Robbins is one of the celebrities on the list of “leaplings”. And peoples’ odds of joining their ranks are small — about 1-in-1,461, to be exact.
Leaplings tell NPR that there is no set rule about when to celebrate a birthday in a non-leap year. Some prefer Feb. 28, others March 1 and many do both.
“Humans program the computer, so the humans need to program it correctly,” she said. “‘Cause February 29 is everyone’s extra day. The day began in 45 B.C. And it’s the most important date on the calendar because it keeps all the dates on the calendar in line with the seasons.”
This is the first year that La Bougie du Sapeur will be printed on February 29th. Anthony, Texas, is known as theLeap Year Capital of the World.
The designation was given to Anthony, Texas and Anthony, New Mexico, on the other side of the state line, due to the number of leap year births that happened within the two towns.
In years past, he said, the community marked leap day with a parade that stretched between the two towns of Anthony. This year, the Texas side is hosting a two-day leap year festival, complete with live music, local vendors and an exclusive barbecue dinner for leap day babies.
The community can take pride in the fact that they live in the leap year capital of the world and everyone can join them for a day of fun in our beautiful town.
Why does leap day occur? Why does it recur? Why do we leap day? We remind you (so you can forget for another 4 years)
Parkin said she doesn’t think myths have to be true in order for them to take hold as early as the 1780s.
The reversal of that power is unusual in the case of marriage. This date ties perfectly with it. Where did it come from and where did it go? I think that it plays well into people’s imaginations.
She points to the proliferation of postcards in the 20th century — which people would send each other across all kinds of relationships — that portrayed women who proposed to men as desperate, unattractive and aggressive, such as holding butterfly nets and pointing guns at guys.
Of the more than 100 people who responded to an NPR callout about their leap day celebrations and traditions, several said they had gotten engaged or married on Feb. 29. Only one explicitly mentioned gender roles.
Suzanne Forbes wrote that she thought this was the day a woman was able to propose. If that is the case, I plan to propose to my wife in a beautiful southern setting.
Source: Why do we leap day? We remind you (so you can forget for another 4 years)
Why do we leap day? We remind you (so you can forget for another four years): A proposal for a permanent calendar that would implement an occasional leap week rather than a leap day
That’s why he and Johns Hopkins astrophysics professor Dick Henry have created the Hanke–Henry Permanent Calendar, a proposal for a new calendar that would implement an occasional leap week rather than leap day.
“The great thing about the permanent calendar is that it never changes,” Hanke explained. The date would be on the same day. Every year, year after year after year … January 1st is always on a Monday. July 4th is always on a Thursday. December 25th, Christmas, is always on a Monday.”
The year is divided into four three-month quarters, each with the same number of days. The first two months of each quarter — including January and February — would always have 30 days, and the third month would have 31. Hanke believes calendar drift would be eliminated by an extra seven days at the end of December.
Hanke argues that his proposed calendar would save confusion and potentially money, pointing to studies in the United Kingdom that show the economic gains associated with having public holidays on weekends. He thinks that it would be very easy for a president to implement the new system through an executive order.
Source: Why do we leap day? We remind you (so you can forget for another 4 years)
Suicide and Crisis Life in the Mid-Wars: The Case of the Michigan Primary Uncomitted Self-Immolation Protest
“But we don’t do that,” she said. “We gave it an interval and we follow that, so now we’re stuck. And now you have to enter these leap days, to try and do our best to fix the human need to have a document that says where exactly you are in the position that the Earth is falling around.”
Two years have passed since Russia invaded Ukraine. The life goes on for people in the middle of a war, as NPR photographer and visuals editorClaire Harbage has learned. Harbage, sharing her experience of covering the war, contrasts the initial resilience and perseverance of the first year with the current sense of stagnation as people confront impossible choices for survival.
The FTC is suing to block the merger of the two largest supermarket chains in the US It would be the biggest grocery merger in recent history. Kroger owns many stores. The top competitor is Albertsons, which owns stores such as Safeway and Vons. The FTC argues the merger would eliminate competition for workers and shoppers.
If you or someone you know may be considering suicide, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by dialing 9-8-8 or the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741.
Source: Young Michigan voters are ‘uncommitted’ to Biden; U.S. airman dies of self-immolation
A U.S. Air Force Activist’s First Death: Protest of Israel’s War in Gaza, or Why We Are Not Here
An active duty U.S. Air Force member has died after he set himself on fire outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C., on Sunday. In a video leading up to the incident, Aaron Bushnell, 25, said it was an act of protest against Israel’s war in Gaza and that he would “no longer be complicit in genocide.”
Democratic and Republican voters in Michigan head to the primaries today. President Biden and former President Donald Trump are expected to win their parties’ nominations. Still, opponents of Biden’s support for Israel’s war in Gaza are calling for Democrats to send a message by voting “uncommitted.”
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