Mystery Monday: The Mystery of Leap Year

Mystery Monday: The Mystery of Leap Year 

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Simple-aign

With 2022 being an “even” year, I wondered if it was a leap year, but rushing to the calendar set me straight. The next leap year will occur in 2024. 

First introduced by Julius Caesar more than 2000 years ago, the formula had only one rule: any year evenly divisible by four would be a leap year. Several hundred years later, it was determined that the Julian calendar (named after him) was drifting apart from the tropical year at a rate of one day every 128 years. As a result the Gregorian calendar, implemented by Pope Gregory XIII, skipped some days to realign the calendar with the seasons. 

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Gordon Johnson

The reason for creating a leap year came from the fact that the earth doesn’t orbit the sun in precisely 365 days, and the extra day acts as a “corrective measure.” Prior to the onset of the Gregorian calendar, many ancient calendars had entire leap months to rectify the problem, however, historians are still unclear as to how the early Romans kept track of their years, mostly because the Romans themselves weren’t entire sure. Research indicates that the Roman calendar consisted of ten months plus and “ill-defined winter period of varying length.” 

There is one exception to the leap year rule that involves century years, such as 1900. Because adding an extra day every four years results in about three extra days being added over the course of four hundred years. Therefore century years are only considered leap years if they are easily divisible for 400, meaning 1700, 1800, and 1900 were not leap years, but 1600 and 2000 were leap years. (who knew this much thought was necessary!!) 

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According to some sources, a tradition in Ireland and Britain allows women to propose marriage during a leap year. In Finland, if a man refuses a woman’s proposal on leap day, he is to purchase her the fabric for a skirt. In Greece, marriage in a leap year is considered unlucky, with twenty-percent of engaged couples choosing not to marry during a leap year. 

There are over four million leap day babies, whom are called leapers or leaplings. There is a one in 1,461 chance of being born on leap day. Actress and performer Dinah Shore, saxophonist and bandleader Jimmy Dorsey, Italian composer Rossini, and actor Dennis Farina were all born February 29. 

Do you know any leap year babies?

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Gold Rush Bride Tegan 

She’s out to prove herself. He’s only looking for adventure. Neither one realizes they’ll find more than gold “in them thar hills.” 

Tegan Llewellyn has always been different than her adopted family, except Grandmother Hannah, a prospector during the 1829 Georgia gold rush. Now, seventy years later there are reports of gold in Nome, and the opportunity is too good to pass up. But Tegan doesn’t count on the dangers that strike from the moment she steps off the steamer, including the threat of losing her heart. 

Elijah Hunter has prospected for gold all over the US and Canada and likes being on the move. The last thing he expects to find on his latest search is a lady miner who proves to be nothing but trouble. Can he convince her that leaving is for her own good before it’s too late...for both of them? 

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