This year, 2012, is a Leap Year. We will have an extra day in our calendar with February 29th falling on a Wednesday. Being born on February 29th is special but can also present some challenges most of us never experience. For instance, the National Honor Society of Leap Year Babies has identified a computer glitch they call "invalid birthday bug". The probability of someone being born on February 29th is about 1 in 1461.
Leap Day and Leap Year has always had some superstitions and legends surrounding it. An old Irish legend suggests that St. Bridget made a deal with St. Patrick to allow women the privilege of proposing to men every 4 years. In Greece it was thought to be unlucky for a couple to marry in a Leap Year. In Scotland it used to be considered unlucky to be born on February 29th and Leap Years were never good years for sheep. It was legend that beans and peas planted in a Leap Year would grow the wrong way. It was once thought that a baby born in Leap Year would be sickly and a difficult child to raise.
A leap year has 366 days instead of 365. One year is actually about 365.25 days long, so every four years an extra full day is added to the calendar. During leap years that extra and special day is added on February 29th. Leap days were added to adjust our calendar to stay in alignment with the Earth's revolution around the Sun.
Leap years were introduced into the calendar in the days of Julius Caesar about 45 B.C. The Julian calendar was used until the 16th century when in 1582 the Gregorian calendar, which is the calendar used today, was introduced. The Gregorian calendar has been in effect since February 24, 1582, and February 29, 2012 will be the 104th Leap Day since.
The Gregorian calendar was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII to correct an error in the Julian system. The error had caused the Julian calendar to be out of sync. The Pope realized that continuing to use the Julian calendar would cause the date of Easter to fall not in the spring but closer and closer to December 25th. Ten days were dropped to bring the calendar back in alignment with the solstices and restore the equinox to its proper place. Pope Gregory XIII decreed that the day following Thursday, October 4, 1582 would become Friday, October, 15, 1582.
Have you found an ancestor born on February 30th? I was surprised to find out for a period of time Sweden and the Soviet Union actually included a February 30th date in their calendar. The day February 30, 1712 was added in Sweden when the country was still using the Julian calendar. In 1753, Sweden converted to our Gregorian calendar. In 1929 the Soviet Union attempted to change their calendar to 5 day weeks / 30-day months. The change to a five day week was intended to improve their industrial efficiency. February 30th existed in the Soviet Union in 1930-1931.
For a period of time after most countries converted to the Gregorian calendar, some people continued to use the Julian calendar in some countries. Dates were recorded in different manners in the 16-18th centuries depending on the calendar used. Dates recorded in the Julian calendar were labeled "O.S." for "Old Style". Dates in the Gregorian calendar were labeled "N.S." for "New Style".
If you are lucky enough to document your family way back in time, you may also find "double dates" in some of your family bibles and other documents. Dates were often written for instance as "died 1703/1704". Be aware that these dates are recorded in this fashion because of the change from the Julian to Gregorian calendar. Double dates occur in typically in old English documents only before 1752 and only in January, February and March and never in any other month.
You can easily find out which years were leap years in the past by searching online for a Leap Year Calculator. You can also find a brief article from Family Tree Magazine about converting Julian dates to Gregorian dates at http://www.familytreemagazine.com/article/ConvertingJulian-Genealogy-Dates/ This article also includes a link to an online Old Style-New Style Julian Converter.
Leap Day and Leap Year has always had some superstitions and legends surrounding it. An old Irish legend suggests that St. Bridget made a deal with St. Patrick to allow women the privilege of proposing to men every 4 years. In Greece it was thought to be unlucky for a couple to marry in a Leap Year. In Scotland it used to be considered unlucky to be born on February 29th and Leap Years were never good years for sheep. It was legend that beans and peas planted in a Leap Year would grow the wrong way. It was once thought that a baby born in Leap Year would be sickly and a difficult child to raise.
A leap year has 366 days instead of 365. One year is actually about 365.25 days long, so every four years an extra full day is added to the calendar. During leap years that extra and special day is added on February 29th. Leap days were added to adjust our calendar to stay in alignment with the Earth's revolution around the Sun.
Leap years were introduced into the calendar in the days of Julius Caesar about 45 B.C. The Julian calendar was used until the 16th century when in 1582 the Gregorian calendar, which is the calendar used today, was introduced. The Gregorian calendar has been in effect since February 24, 1582, and February 29, 2012 will be the 104th Leap Day since.
The Gregorian calendar was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII to correct an error in the Julian system. The error had caused the Julian calendar to be out of sync. The Pope realized that continuing to use the Julian calendar would cause the date of Easter to fall not in the spring but closer and closer to December 25th. Ten days were dropped to bring the calendar back in alignment with the solstices and restore the equinox to its proper place. Pope Gregory XIII decreed that the day following Thursday, October 4, 1582 would become Friday, October, 15, 1582.
Have you found an ancestor born on February 30th? I was surprised to find out for a period of time Sweden and the Soviet Union actually included a February 30th date in their calendar. The day February 30, 1712 was added in Sweden when the country was still using the Julian calendar. In 1753, Sweden converted to our Gregorian calendar. In 1929 the Soviet Union attempted to change their calendar to 5 day weeks / 30-day months. The change to a five day week was intended to improve their industrial efficiency. February 30th existed in the Soviet Union in 1930-1931.
For a period of time after most countries converted to the Gregorian calendar, some people continued to use the Julian calendar in some countries. Dates were recorded in different manners in the 16-18th centuries depending on the calendar used. Dates recorded in the Julian calendar were labeled "O.S." for "Old Style". Dates in the Gregorian calendar were labeled "N.S." for "New Style".
If you are lucky enough to document your family way back in time, you may also find "double dates" in some of your family bibles and other documents. Dates were often written for instance as "died 1703/1704". Be aware that these dates are recorded in this fashion because of the change from the Julian to Gregorian calendar. Double dates occur in typically in old English documents only before 1752 and only in January, February and March and never in any other month.
You can easily find out which years were leap years in the past by searching online for a Leap Year Calculator. You can also find a brief article from Family Tree Magazine about converting Julian dates to Gregorian dates at http://www.familytreemagazine.com/article/ConvertingJulian-Genealogy-Dates/ This article also includes a link to an online Old Style-New Style Julian Converter.
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