tagged: February 29th, Leap Year

February 29th

Posted by Clayton Shold in Other "Stuff"

It is fun to have some trivia in hand when you are on a sale call, or just talking with a friend today.

The last time February had five Fridays was 1980.

The chances of being born on February 29th are 1 in 1461.

We have a leap year to balance the calendar year with the astronomical year. If we didn’t pick up an extra day every four years all our seasons would get right out of whack. When did someone figure all of this out you wonder? It was back in Julius Caesar’s time, 45 BC. I won’t get into the reasons for another major fine tuning that happened in 1582 when October 15th was changed to October 5th to drop 10 days to put things right. This adjustment resulted in the calendar system as we know it today, the Gregorian calendar.

At one time it was considered acceptable on February 29th for women to propose to their beau. Some called it Sadie Hawkins Day. This dates back to the 5th century Ireland. In fact in Scotland in 1228 if a man refused a proposal, he could be fined.

Self-improvement guru Anthony Robbins was born on this day in 1960. This will be the 12th time he gets to celebrate his birthday.

It is also the day Superman was born on the planet Krypton.

About 4 million people in the world were born on February 29th.

Astrologers will tell you those born under the sign of Pisces on February 29th have unusual talents and personalities reflecting their special status.

When does a leap year occur? Well the year has to be divisible by 4, and it can not be divisible by 100, but can be divisible by 400. Therefore, 1700, 1800, and 1900 were not leap years (divisible by 100 but not 400). That leaves 1600 and 2000 as leap years (they are divisible by 400). Got it?

Lastly, happy birthday to Salesopedia contributing author Kevin Dwyer of the Change Factory who happens to look four times older than he actually is. Enjoy your day Kevin!

Clayton Shold
Salesopedia