The year of 2012 is a Leap Year. It occurs every four years when an extra day is added to our calendar on February 29 in order to align the calendar with the revolutions of Earth around the Sun. It takes a little bit over 365 days for the Earth to orbit the Sun once. As such, it has been calculated that if the Leap Day was not added every four years, people would lose about 24 calendar days every 100 years! Historically, there existed many variations of Leap Year in different cultures such as Hindu, Islamic, Jewish, and Chinese. However, the modern worldwide standard of adding an extra day every four years was introduced on the basis on Gregorian calendar which was adopted in 1582.
Over time, many different traditions and beliefs emerged surrounding Leap Year. One of the most popular traditions is that women can propose marriage to men on February 29 during Leap Year. As legend asserts, St. Bridget complained to St. Patrick that some women had to wait too long for men to propose and as a result, St. Patrick allowed women to suggest marriage on this particular day. If a man refused, he had to give a woman some present such as silk dress, money, or gloves. Also, in some countries it was believed a bad luck to be married during a Leap Year, while in other countries it was considered unfortunate to be born during Leap Year or on Leap Day in particular. However, the last belief can be easily refuted if one considers that many famous and accomplished people were born during Leap Year or even on Leap Day.
For example, famous Italian composer Gioacchino Rossini was born on February 29, 1792. He was one of the most prolific composers whose work included such well-known operas as The Barber of Seville and William Tell. During his life, he wrote 39 operas as well as chamber music, piano pieces, and songs. Another famous person born during Leap Year of 1812 was Charles Dickens. He is considered to be one of the greatest English novelists whose work was widely popular during his lifetime and is still highly praised nowadays. There is probably hardly a person in the world who did not read his novels such as A Tale of Two Cities, The Adventures of Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, and Great Expectations.
Some contemporary famous people born on Leap Day include Anthony Robbins (born February 29, 1960), a well-known American motivational speaker whose self-help programs are published in over 100 countries and used by more than 4 million people worldwide; Randy Jackson, an American music producer and singer who was born in 1952 and became widely popular television personality as a judge on American Idol show; and Mervyn Warren, a five-time Grammy award winner was born on February 29, 1964 and is well-known for producing music scores for such movies as The Wedding Planner, The Sister Act 2, and The Preacher’s Wife which starred late Whitney Houston.
Obviously, being born during Leap Year or even on Leap Day is not such a bad luck! Moreover, if you were born on February 29 you can celebrate your birthday twice (February 28 plus March 1) and join other Leapers in such organizations as The Honor Society of Leap Year Day Babies whose membership includes over 10 000 people since its launch in 1997.
Happy Leap Year!
