This year is going to be a leap year, but some might wonder what that means and why we have them.
According to an article by Harry Baker on Live Science, the leap year happens every four years on the Gregorian calendar where there are 366 days in the year instead of the usual 365. These leap years happen because the amount of time it takes the Earth to orbit the sun is a few hours longer than the calendar year.
If the extra hours were left unaccounted for, then the gap between the Earth’s orbit and our calendar year would get wider and shift the timing of seasons. Adding an extra day every four years helps to account for those extra hours and keep the calendar and solar years in sync.
However, the leap year does not fix all of the timing issues our solar and calendar years have. Every four years we gain about 44 minutes. This adds up to about a day after 129 years. That is why leap years are skipped almost every hundred years.
The very first leap year occurred in 45 B.C. when the Roman emperor Julius Caesar implemented his own Julian calendar. It included 12 months, 365 days, and had a leap year every four years.
In the 16th century, astronomers had noticed the seasons were beginning to start earlier when certain holidays no longer lined up with certain astronomical events like they used to. To fix this, Pope Gregory XIII came up with his Gregorian calendar, which is the system we use today.
While there is a lot of old history involved with the leap year, it can still be relevant to Keene State students today.
“I feel like if the school has any students that are born on the leap year, I think they should be recognized,” said senior Alexandra Soucy. “They’re probably only…four or five at this point.”
“I think it’s interesting. It’s something that only happens…every four years.” continued Soucy.
According to the Registrar’s Office, there is only one enrolled student at Keene State who has a birthday on Feb. 29. The chances of being born on leap day are 1 in 1,461.
“I’m excited,” said sophomore Lin Young about the upcoming leap day. “It’s an extra day.”
Orion Corbin can be contacted at
ocorbin@kscequinox.com
