10 Fun Leap Year Facts To Teach Your Children
While you probably know that leap year occurs once every four years, you may not be familiar with the purpose or origins behind it -- I'm certainly not! Whether you are curious or you're trying to explain the extra day of the year to your child, here are some fun facts that can turn anyone into a leap year expert.
- Four-million people in the world are leap day babies, in that, they were born on February 29th.
- While four-million is a big number, there is only a one in 1461 chance of being born on a leap day.
- Those born on leap day are often nicknamed leapers or leaplings.
- There are quite a few celebrity leap day babies, too, including Dinah Shore, Ja Rule, Giovanni Rivera, and Nickolas Ray.
- Since leap years are special, many women choose to propose to men on February 29th.
- However, over in Greece, getting married in leap year is considered bad luck and there are still many couples who try and avoid it.
- Ready for some math? Every year that is divisible by 4 is a leap year.
- But, if the year is also divisible by 100, it is not a leap year.
- The one exception, however, is if the year is divisible by 400. Then, in fact, it is a leap year.
- We can thank Julius Caesar for leap years. He believed that by adding in an extra day every four years, our calendar was in direct alignment with the Earth's position of the sun.
Is your child excited about Leap Year?
