Daily Content Archive
(as of Monday, February 29, 2016)Word of the Day | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
peignoir
|
Article of the Day | |
---|---|
![]() LeaplingsSince, technically, a year consists of 365 days and approximately 6 hours, every four years these hours amount to a full day. In order to synchronize the Gregorian calendar with the astronomical year, a leap day, February 29, is added to the 28-day month once every four years. As such, leap years are always evenly divisible by four. Persons born on a leap day are called "leaplings," and, contrary to popular myth, they do age during non-leap years. What opera centers on a leapling and his aging? More... |
This Day in History | |
---|---|
More... |
Today's Birthday | |
---|---|
More... |
Quotation of the Day | |
---|---|
![]() Henry James (1843-1916) |
Today's Holiday | |
---|---|
![]() Leap Year Day (2016)The Earth actually takes longer than 365 days to complete its trip around the Sun—five hours, 48 minutes, and 45 seconds longer, to be precise. To accommodate this discrepancy, an extra day is added to the Gregorian calendar at the end of February every four years. The year in which this occurs is called Leap Year, probably because the English courts did not always recognize February 29, and the date was often "leaped over" in the records. There was an old tradition that women could propose marriage to men during Leap Year. The men had to pay a forfeit if they refused. More... |