Lhe leap year 2024 is today celebrated by Google with a particularly colorful and interactive doodle. It represents a frog jumping from one water lily to another in a pond. On the frog’s chest there is the number 29, which recalls today’s day, February 29, which falls every four years. A symbolic representation of this special day, given that in English the leap year is called “Leap Year” (“leap” means “leap”).
Leap year, February 29, 2024 is dedicated to sustainability
This “lake” animation shows some characteristic elements of biodiversity and recalls environmental sustainability.
What is leap year?
Leap year is a kind of anomaly in our calendar that occurs every four years. But where and when does the need to add an extra day come from? The leap year has existed for over two thousand years: it was introduced by Julius Caesar in Ancient Rome and then changed with a radical reform by Pope Gregory XIII, to realign the calendar with the solar year. Today usually marks the year of the Summer Olympics, which this year will be held in Paris, but there are several other things to know about it.
What is it for?
As reported The post, a solar year, i.e. the time it takes the Earth to make a complete revolution around the Sun, is not perfectly divisible into 24-hour periods, i.e. days: it lasts approximately 365 days and 6 hours. If every year had 365 days, every four years the calendar would be one day ahead. Thanks to the leap year, the calendar “realigns” by adding a day just when the accumulated advance reaches 24 hours (six hours a year, for four years).
A curiosity about February 29th
The tradition of “Bachelors Day” still practiced in some areas of Ireland involves the total reversal of the rules on February 29th. On this very rare day, women propose to men. According to ancient popular beliefs, Saint Bridget asked Saint Patrick to make an exception, at least once every four years. Above all to reward the patience of young Irish women, often forced into very long engagements. Even today, if the man refuses the proposal, he must compensate his girlfriend. But the gift should not be chosen at random: he must in fact give her at least a dozen pairs of gloves. Which will serve to hide the hand still without the ring.
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