Most people know the reason behind having a leap day. The Earth’s orbit around the Sun actually takes 365.2422 days, approximately, meaning that extra 0.2422 days adds up after a few years, hence the leap year. There’s been stories every year about babies born on leap days, jokes made, and even a movie about the day. Here’s a short list of fun facts to keep in your back pocket for the upcoming odd day out.
1) Rapper Ja Rule and poet Lord Byron were both born on Leap Days.
2) Greek couples tend to believe getting married in a leap year is bad luck, so one in five engaged couples will plan around it.
3) People born on leap days are called “leaplings” or “leapers”.
4) February 29th also happens to be Rare Disease Day.
5) On Leap Day in 1960, Hugh Hefner opened his first Playboy Club.
6) There is an animal associated with February 29: the frog! Get it? Leap frog?
7) Before 45 BC, the calendar had 355 days and an extra 22-day month every two years. Luckily, Julius Caesar made his astronomer rework the calendar to how it is now.
8) The basis for the movie Leap Year is a real thing! There are two theories as to where exactly it came from: One says Queen Margaret of Scotland created it, the other credits St. Patrick at the request of St. Bridget. Either way, it’s generally agreed that women can propose on a leap day, and the man has to give her either a pair of gloves, a gown, a kiss, or a pound if he refuses. The other tradition requires the woman to wear breeches or a scarlet petticoat as a warning to the suitor.
9) In Russia, leap year is blamed for freak weather problems, in Scotland it is believed to be a bad luck year for livestock and crops, and in Taiwan the lunar month is believed to bring bad health to parents, so married daughters are allowed to return home.
10) Astrologers often used to believe that those born on a leap day to be especially gifted and unique, and sometimes even that it could give a person special powers!
Sources: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/16-leap-year-facts-2016-7104207