Have you ever wondered why February occasionally boasts an extra day? The answer lies in the leap year rule. Embracing this intriguing concept allows us to sync our calendars with the Earth’s orbit around the sun.
In the late 1990’s I was deeply involved with solving the Y2K “problem.” It was truly a problem and the people who were there, in the trenches, can testify that big problems would have occurred if we didn’t fix it right then and there. One of the common questions in the day was, “when it is going to be a leap year?” Most people knew the divisible by four part, but hardly anyone knew the complete rule and lucky for us, the year 2000 was one of those exceptions.
Leap years are like the universe’s way of keeping time in check. But how does it work? The leap year rule states that any year divisible by four is a leap year, except for those divisible by 100. However, if a year is divisible by both 100 and 400, it becomes a leap year once again. Mind-boggling, isn’t it? For example, the years 1700, 1800, and 1900 are not leap years, but the years 1600 and 2000 are.
By implementing this ingenious rule, we ensure our calendars don’t drift away from the natural rhythm of our planet’s journey around the sun. It’s a harmonious dance between time and mathematics, all orchestrated to perfection.
That’s a little throwback to a time when they whole world was actually and truthfully interested and concerned about the date. For those of us who lived it, 24 years since Y2K has flown by hasn’t it.
Live long and prosper. 