5 things you probably didn't know about Leap day

Leap Day

An extra day added to the Gregorian calendar about every four years is called Leap Day. It was first started in 46 BCE as Earth takes more than 365 days to resolve around the sun and the Julian calendar did not provide any extra day for this. Here are some surprising facts about the bonus day.

Caesar and the Pope

Julius Caesar introduced the first leap year around 46 B.C., but his Julian calendar had only one rule. Any year evenly divisble by four would be a leap year.

Considered as bad luck

Not surprisingly, leap years can be bad for the nupital business, too. One in five engaged couples in Greece avoid tying the knot in a leap year because they believe its bad luck.

Leap Year Capital

The twin cities of Anthony, Texas, and Anthony, New Mexico, are the self-proclaimed Leap Year Capital of the World.

Leaplings or leapers

People born on leap day are callled as leaplings or leapers. Most of them dont wait every four years to celebrate their birthdays, but instead blow out the candles on Feb 28 or March 1.

Someday, we don't need leap day

As the gravity of the sun and moon drag on the Earth, our days slowly get longer. Eventually, well hit the point where our year is exactly 365 days long, eliminating the need for Leap Years.