LEAP YEAR DAY - 29th February

Feel like things are getting on top of you, and you can’t keep up? Don’t worry –Leap Year Day is a free day that only comes around once every four years! Use it to catch up, slow down, and prepare yourself for another four years of hectic madness…

A Leap Day, February 29, is added to the calendar during leap years. This extra day makes the year 366 days long – not 365 days, like a common year.

Why Add a Leap Day?

Leap days are needed to keep our calendar in alignment with

the Earth's revolutions around the Sun.

It takes the Earth approximately 365.242189 days – or 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 45 seconds – to circle once around the Sun. This called a tropical year.

Without an extra – or intercalary – day on February 29 nearly every four years, we would lose almost six hours every year. After only 100 years, our calendar would be off by approximately 24 days in relation to fixed seasonal days days like the vernal equinox or winter solstice.