Every four years, we get an extra day. This makes February 29th an intercalary day. I didn't have a clue what that word meant, but I like to learn new words so I looked it up. Intercalary means a day, or a month, intserted into the calendar to make it harmonize with the solar year. The earth's orbit takes 364.25 days to complete it's solar orbit. That means that every four years, we need an extra day. If we didn't, then every 750 years, June would end up being in winter. It's not something any of us have to worry about, but it's good that scientists have been thinking WAY ahead. When you think about it, having an extra day is kind of cool.
Leap Day has several traditions, and a few superstitions, too. Probably the most common tradition is that on February 29th, women can ask their boyfriends to marry them. I don't think we need a special day for that, but this tradition dates back many years when times were not as liberal. But what happens if the man refuses marriage? In several European countries, like Denmark, the man is then supposed to buy the proposing woman 12 pairs of gloves. The theory behind the gloves, it seems, is that gloves hide the woman's hands and saves her the embarrassment of not having an engagement ring on her left hand. In Finland, the man would give a length of fabric for a skirt, instead of gloves. In Greece, it is thought to be unlucky to marry during a leap year and, especially on Leap Year Day. Did you know that there is an actual Leap Year Capital of the world? The US town of Anthony, has proclaimed itself the Leap Year Capital and has a big celebration every four years to mark the occaision.
Many people know Leap Day as Sadie Hawkins Day, but the truth is that November 15th, not February 29, is the day we "honor" this character. So who was Sadie Hawkins and how did she become synonomous with Leap Day? She first appeared in Al Capp's comic strip, L'il Abbner, on November 15th, 1937. Sadie is thought to have been the ' the ugliest girl in the hills' and she got tired of waiting for the fellas to come a courtin'. Her father, who was bigwig in the town of Dogpatch, declared November 15th as Sadie Hawkins Day and instituted a foot race through town. All unmarried woman would chase the bachelors down the street and if the bachelor got "caught" it resulted in matrimony...or 12 pairs of gloves (you decide). May people are eager to see the 366th day of the year, Leap Day, renamed Sadie Hawkins Day. My guess is that those folks just have too much time on their hands...
However you choose to celebrate this day it still is, technically, an extra day and therefore a good excuse to go have some fun. Besides, it only happens every four years.
Leap Day has several traditions, and a few superstitions, too. Probably the most common tradition is that on February 29th, women can ask their boyfriends to marry them. I don't think we need a special day for that, but this tradition dates back many years when times were not as liberal. But what happens if the man refuses marriage? In several European countries, like Denmark, the man is then supposed to buy the proposing woman 12 pairs of gloves. The theory behind the gloves, it seems, is that gloves hide the woman's hands and saves her the embarrassment of not having an engagement ring on her left hand. In Finland, the man would give a length of fabric for a skirt, instead of gloves. In Greece, it is thought to be unlucky to marry during a leap year and, especially on Leap Year Day. Did you know that there is an actual Leap Year Capital of the world? The US town of Anthony, has proclaimed itself the Leap Year Capital and has a big celebration every four years to mark the occaision.
Many people know Leap Day as Sadie Hawkins Day, but the truth is that November 15th, not February 29, is the day we "honor" this character. So who was Sadie Hawkins and how did she become synonomous with Leap Day? She first appeared in Al Capp's comic strip, L'il Abbner, on November 15th, 1937. Sadie is thought to have been the ' the ugliest girl in the hills' and she got tired of waiting for the fellas to come a courtin'. Her father, who was bigwig in the town of Dogpatch, declared November 15th as Sadie Hawkins Day and instituted a foot race through town. All unmarried woman would chase the bachelors down the street and if the bachelor got "caught" it resulted in matrimony...or 12 pairs of gloves (you decide). May people are eager to see the 366th day of the year, Leap Day, renamed Sadie Hawkins Day. My guess is that those folks just have too much time on their hands...
However you choose to celebrate this day it still is, technically, an extra day and therefore a good excuse to go have some fun. Besides, it only happens every four years.
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