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Did not know that it’s leap year
5 Things You May Not Know About Leap Day
Nearly every four years, we add an extra day to the calendar in the form of February 29, also known as Leap Day. Put simply, these additional 24 hours are built into the calendar to ensure that it stays in line with the Earth’s movement around the sun.
While the modern calendar contains 365 days, the actual time it takes for Earth to orbit its star is slightly longer—roughly 365.2421 days. The difference might seem negligible, but over decades and centuries that missing quarter of a day per year can add up. To ensure consistency with the true astronomical year, it is necessary to periodically add in an extra day to make up the lost time and get the calendar back in synch with the heavens.
1. Many ancient calendars had entire leap months
Many calendars, including the Hebrew, Chinese and Buddhist calendars, are lunisolar, meaning their dates indicate the position of the moon as well as the position of Earth relative to the sun. Since there is a natural gap of roughly 11 days between a year as measured by lunar cycles and one measured by the Earth’s orbit, such calendars periodically require the addition of extra months, known as intercalary or interstitial months, to keep them on track.
Intercalary months, however, were not necessarily regular. Historians are still unclear as to how the early Romans kept track of their years, mostly because the Romans themselves may not have been entirely sure. It appears that the early Roman calendar consisted of ten months plus an ill-defined winter period, the varying length of which caused the calendar to become unpegged from the solar year.
Eventually, this uncertain stretch of time was replaced by the new months of January and February, but the situation remained complicated. They employed a 23-day intercalary month known as Mercedonius to account for the difference between their year and the solar year, inserting it not between months but within the month of February for reasons that may have been related to lunar cycles.
To make matters even more confusing, the decision of when to hold Mercedonius often fell to the consuls, who used their ability to shorten or extend the year to their own political ends. As a result, by the time of Julius Caesar, the Roman year and the solar year were thoroughly out of sync.
2. Julius Caesar introduced Leap Day, with help from the Egyptians...
The Mercedonius-when-we-feel-like-it system apparently irked Caesar, the general-turned-consul-turned-dictator of Rome who drastically altered the course of European history. In addition to conquering Gaul and transforming Rome from a republic into an empire, Caesar re-ordered the Roman calendar, giving us the blueprint off of which much of the world still operates to this day.
During his time in Egypt, Caesar became convinced of the superiority of the Egyptian solar calendar, which featured 365 days and an occasional intercalary month which was inserted when astronomers observed the correct conditions in the stars. Caesar and the philosopher Sosigenes of Alexandria made one important modification: instead of relying on the stars, they would simply add a day to every fourth year. In keeping with the Roman tradition of messing with the length of February, that day would fall in the second month of the year—thus Leap Day was born. Caesar added two extra-long months to the year 46 B.C.E. to make up for missed intercalations, and the Julian Calendar took effect on January 1st, 45 B.C.E.
3. ...but their math was a little off
By the 16th century, scholars had noticed that time was still slipping—Caesar’s calculation that a year lasted 365.25 days was close, but still overestimated the solar year by 11 minutes. This was a problem for the Catholic Church, as the date of Easter had drifted away from its traditional place, the first Sunday after the first full moon following the vernal equinox, by roughly ten days. Pope Gregory XIII commissioned a modified calendar, one which kept Leap Day but accounted for the inaccuracy by eliminating it on centurial years not divisible by 400 (1700, 1800, and 1900 were not leap years, but 2000 was). The introduction of the Gregorian Calendar marked the last change to the Western calendar as we know it today.
Experts note that the Gregorian calculation of a solar year—365.2425 days—is still not perfect, and thus another correction will be necessary. Thankfully, the Gregorian calendar is only off by about one day every 3,030 years, so mankind has some time before this becomes a problem.
4. Leap Day is often associated with marriage, proposals and flipping gender roles
Curiously, many Leap Day customs have revolved around romance and marriage. Tradition holds that in 5th-century Ireland, St. Bridget lamented to St. Patrick that women were not allowed to propose marriage to men. So legend has it that St. Patrick designated the only day that does not occur annually, February 29, as a day on which women would be allowed to propose to men. In some places, Leap Day thus became known as Bachelor’s Day.
This tradition hopped the Irish Sea to Scotland and England, where the British added a twist—if a man rejected a woman’s proposal, he owed her a debt of several pairs of fine gloves, perhaps to hide the fact that she did not have an engagement ring. In Greek tradition, however, it is considered bad luck to marry on Leap Day, and statistics suggest that Greek couples continue to take this superstition seriously.
5. People born on Leap Day are called ‘Leaplings’
There are only about 5 million people in the whole world who were born on February 29, with the odds of being born on Leap Day standing at about 1-in-1,461. Several famous people—including actress and singer Dinah Shore (born 1916), motivational speaker Tony Robbins (born 1960) and hip-hop artist Ja Rule (born 1976)—are leaplings. Leaplings technically only get to celebrate their birthdays once every four years, but they do get to be part of an elite group.
https://www.history.com/news/why-do-we-have-leap-year
Now you've got me thinking about clearing out a corner of the living room instead of the unheated room I've been using for seed starting.
Good Morning! :-)
Where do most people eat out on leap day?
IHOP.
Thanks, I’ll be here all week.
As if this year hasn’t started bad enough, they’re making it extra long.
Is there a top and bottom to a heat mat? The cords would be a lot neater if I put them printed side down.
Thanks for the new Garden thread!
Chocolate Mud Pie w/ Coffee Ganache / Flo’s V8 Café at Disney Park California
Craving some delicious comfort food? Whether you’re making this to celebrate Leap
Year or as a special treat, its loaded with home-style deliciousness. Makes 8-4" pies
Ingredients CHOCOLATE MUD FILLING 2 cups unsalted butter 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips 10 eggs 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 1 cup sugar
CHOCOLATE PIE DOUGH 2 tablespoons sugar 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 2 eggs 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
COFFEE GANACHE 1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips 1 cup heavy cream 1 teaspoon coffee extract
TO MAKE CHOCOLATE MUD FILLING: Melt butter and chocolate in a heavy saucepan over low heat, mixing until smooth; take off heat and set aside. Whisk together eggs and vanilla in a mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, sift together flour and sugar. Add flour and sugar mixture to egg and vanilla mixture, whisking to combine. Use an immersion blender to thoroughly combine until completely smooth. Add chocolate and butter mixture; using immersion blender, mix until smooth and completely incorporated. Refrigerate, covered, for 24 hours.
FOR CHOCOLATE PIE DOUGH: Mix sugar and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl. Add flour mixture to the butter and sugar mixture. Slowly add eggs and vanilla extract until dough holds together and is no longer sticky. Dump dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap on the counter; press dough into a rough circle and wrap tightly with plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 1 hour.
FOR COFFEE GANACHE: Place chocolate chips in a medium heatproof bowl. Bring cream to a simmer in a small saucepan; pour hot cream over chocolate and stir until chocolate is completely melted. Stir in coffee extract.
TO ASSEMBLE: Preheat oven to 350°F. Roll chocolate pie dough to ¼-inch thickness; if making mini pies, cut into eight 6-inch circles. Press dough into 9-inch pie tin or eight 4-inch pie tins; sides should reach the outermost part of the lip on the tin. Fill large shell ¾ full with filling or scoop ½ cup chocolate mud batter into each mini shell. Bake approximately 40 to 45 minutes for a large pie or 15 minutes for mini pies. Cool to room temp. Add a tbl coffee ganache into centers before serving.
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This recipe has been converted from a larger quantity in the restaurant kitchens. The flavor profile may vary from the restaurant’s version. All recipes are the property of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts U.S., Inc., and may not be reproduced without express permission.
LOL, I have a dear friend whose birthday is the 29th of February - he tells everyone he’s turning 14 this year.
I've been busy getting bucket fulls of free mulch and compost from the city and spreading it out on areas that are the weediest - with all the rain we received this past month (So Cal) weed season is ON!
On a happier note, I learned how to take care of the six cymbidium orchids that I inherited between 2013 and 2015 - they had been sitting since that time and only one ever bloomed - and that was once. Started 18 months ago, and thanks to You Tube videos, I re-potted and fertilized them regularly - there are three different types of fertilizer depending on the time of year - I've been rewarded with seven stalks of flowers that are just now opening. I am now an orchid grower!!
Can't wait to see what the other orchid flowers look like.
Beautiful weather this past week here in Central Missouri. Shame we didn’t get to enjoy it. Mrs. Augie and I both have been on the couch with Influenza A. It’s a rather unpleasant strain - severe respiratory symptoms, headache, body ache, fever, ugh. We’re on the back side of it I think but still pretty weak. We’re going to get out today and at least take a walk around the place to get the blood moving.
If I have any gumption left after that I might get on the tractor and move some dirt. I need to at least try to get something accomplished outside while the weather is nice.
Question: I have some rose slips that have been rooting for 5 months. While there is still snow on the ground, it has warmed up here a LOT. The cuttings have been in an unheated sun room, occasionally subject to sub-freezing temperatures over the winter. While we are still getting frosts regularly, and will be until mid-April, I am curious if it would be safe to plant them in their permanent home yet.
The soil is still very cool, frozen in places, hence my question.
Beau would be DROOLING over those ‘treasures!’ He’s using re-purposed metal sheeting for the remodel of my chicken coup. That is going to be one fancy coop! ;)
The amount of ‘stuff’ he’s dragged home from his construction sites through the years has been staggering - but it’s ‘going away’ little by little as he uses it up on various projects around here.
The coolest thing he ever found was the frame and door to a submarine. His brother used it as an entrance to his chicken coop; it looks pretty cool. ;)
Anyway, I wanted to find out what it would take to grow a papaya for fruit. They take about 13months to grow and require, of course, warm weather. I think that you can top them off to force fruiting, but you also need to know that there are male, female, and hermaphodite trees. Males do not, of course bear, but the other two will. (Hermaphadite is preferred because its self fertile.) If anyone in the warmer zones is interested here is a link to an article from the University of Hawaii extension on growing Papayas.
Why some papaya fail to fruit.
A you tube about growing Papaya
2:03 / 10:49 How to grow Papaya in Pots - Complete Growing Guide