Happy Birthday to Leapers

Today is a very special day for some people around the world, who were born on February 29, Leap Day – the extra day in February that only comes around every four years.

Those who were born on this day relish the uniqueness of their birthdays. They even think there’s an advantage to marking their real birthdays just once every four years. Generally, the Leapers celebrate their birthdays a day earlier or later of their date of birth.

An additional day is added to a year to compensate 365 days those are actually six hours shorter than a solar year to maintain the cycle of the calendar synchronized with seasons. Scientists say earth takes 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 46 seconds to complete a cycle around the sun.

The other three years are now known as common years. Various myths and notions exist about the day. According to a four-centuries-old tradition, on a Leap Day a woman may propose to a man, that cannot be rejected.

Under a law enacted in 1288 by the then five-year-old Queen Margaret of Scotland, if a man refuses to the proposal, he had to pay the fine. It is because in those days, it was considered unfair for a woman to propose to a man, so such a deal was struck.

An Irish movie released in 2010 namely ‘Leap Year,’ starring Amy Adams and Matthew Goode, is also based on the very tradition. Under an English law, February 29th was ignored and had no legal status, so a crime on the day is no crime at all.

A Greek superstition claims that couples have bad luck if they marry during a Leap Year that is now avoided. Those who are born on Leap Day are termed unlucky. Though Leap Year is celebrated with different styles across the world, the wildlife experts across the world are observing the Leap Year 2012 as ‘Year of the Frog.’

The day is meant to highlight the plight of frogs and other amphibians, sensitise the people about the problems confronting world’s amphibians for devising a strategy to redress the issue.

According to the American Zoo Association, during the last 22 years, 120 species of frogs, toads, salamanders and other amphibians have gone extinct.

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Posted by Faisal Farooq on Feb 29 2012. Filed under Latest News, National, Pakistan, World. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.