FEBRUARY 29th . . . ?

February 29th is that one extra day added to our calendar during a "Leap Year".

"Leap Years" occur on a 4 year cycle and are easy to remember because they occur in the same years that we have presidential elections (also a 4 year cycle). That means our next "Leap Year" will be in 2024, then 2028, and so forth.

If you are at all curious, you must be wondering . . . why?

The answer lies in the precise periodicity of Earth's orbit around the Sun:

365.25 days (one year +0.25 day)

The math is pretty easy: 0.25 day = 6 hours, six hours x 4 years = ONE ("extra") DAY

The more interesting and thought provoking question is, what would happen if we did not account for this extra day? What would we observe if humans did not add February 29th to our calendar every 4 years? What would we observe after 120 years of time if there was no February 29th? Write your answer in the comment section if you can figure it out. Good luck!