Did you know that not every 4th year is a leap year? Why leap year is considered unlucky, and what signs are associated with this?
What does leap year mean?
1. A leap year is a year in which there are 366 days, rather than the usual 365. An additional day in a leap year is added in February - February 29 (leap day).An extra day in a leap year is necessary because a full revolution around the Sun takes a little more than 365 days, or rather 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 46 seconds.
People once followed a 355-day calendar with an additional 22-day month every two years. But in 45 BC. Julius Caesar, together with the astronomer Sosigenes, decided to simplify the situation, and the Julian 365-day calendar was developed, with an extra day every 4 years to compensate for the extra hours.
This day was added in February because it was once the last month in the Roman calendar.
2. This system was supplemented by Pope Gregory XIII (who introduced the Gregorian calendar), who coined the term "leap year" and declared that a year that is a multiple of 4 and a multiple of 400, but not a multiple of 100, is a leap year.
So, according to the Gregorian calendar, 2000 was a leap year, but 1700, 1800 and 1900 were not.
What are leap years in the 20th and 21st centuries?
1904, 1908, 1912, 1916, 1920, 1924, 1928, 1932, 1936, 1940, 1944, 1948, 1952, 1956, 1960, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020, 2024, 2028, 2032, 2036, 2040, 2044, 2048, 2052, 2056, 2060, 2064, 2068, 2072, 2076, 2080, 2084, 2088, 2092, 2096February 29 is leap day
3. February 29 is considered the only day when a woman can propose marriage to a man. This tradition began in 5th century Ireland when St. Brigid complained to St. Patrick that women had to wait too long for suitors to propose. Then he gave women one day in a leap year - the last day in the shortest month, so that the fair sex could propose to a man.
According to legend, Brigitte immediately knelt down and proposed to Patrick, but he refused, kissing her on the cheek and offering her a silk dress to soften her refusal.
4. According to another version, this tradition appeared in Scotland, when Queen Margaret, at the age of 5, announced in 1288 that a woman could propose to any man she liked on February 29.
She also made a rule that those who refused had to pay a fine in the form of a kiss, a silk dress, a pair of gloves or money. To warn suitors in advance, the woman was required to wear trousers or a red petticoat on the day of the proposal.
In Denmark, a man who refuses a woman's marriage proposal must provide her with 12 pairs of gloves, and in Finland - fabric for a skirt.
Leap year wedding
5. Every fifth couple in Greece avoids getting married on a leap year, as it is believed to bring bad luck. In Italy, it is believed that during a leap year a woman becomes unpredictable and there is no need to plan during this time. important events. So, according to the Italian proverb "Anno bisesto, anno funesto". (“A leap year is a doomed year”).
Born on February 29
6. The chances of being born on February 29th are 1 in 1461. Around the world, about 5 million people were born on Leap Day. 7. For many centuries, astrologers believed that children born on Leap Day have unusual talents, a unique personality and even special forces. Among famous people Those born on February 29 can name the poet Lord Byron, composer Gioachino Rossini, actress Irina Kupchenko.
8. In Hong Kong, the official birthday for those born on February 29 is March 1 in normal years, while in New Zealand it is February 28. If you time it right, you can celebrate the longest birthday in the world while traveling from one country to another.
9. The town of Anthony in Texas, USA is the self-proclaimed “Leap Year Capital of the World.” A festival is held here every year, where those born on February 29 gather from all over the world.
10. Record the largest number generations born on Leap Day belong to the Keogh family.
Peter Anthony Keogh was born on February 29, 1940 in Ireland, his son Peter Eric was born on February 29, 1964 in the UK, and his granddaughter Bethany Wealth was born on February 29, 1996.
11. Karin Henriksen from Norway holds the world record for giving birth to the largest number of children on a leap day.
Her daughter Heidi was born on February 29, 1960, son Olav on February 29, 1964, and son Lief-Martin on February 29, 1968.
12. In the traditional Chinese, Jewish and ancient Indian calendars, not a leap day is added to the year, but whole month. It is called the "intercalary month". It is believed that children born in a leap month are more difficult to raise. In addition, it is considered unlucky to start serious business during a leap year.
Leap year: signs and superstitions
Since ancient times, a leap year has always been considered difficult and bad for many undertakings. IN folk beliefs Leap year is associated with Saint Kasyan, who was considered evil, envious, stingy, unmerciful and brought misfortune to people. According to legend, Kasyan was a bright angel to whom God trusted all plans and intentions. But then he went over to the side of the Devil, telling him that God intended to overthrow all satanic power from heaven.
For his betrayal, God punished Kasyan by ordering him to be beaten on the forehead with a hammer for three years, and in the fourth year to be released to earth, where he committed unkind deeds.
There are many signs associated with leap year:
Firstly, you can’t start anything on a leap year. This applies to important matters, business, major purchases, investments and construction.
It is also not recommended to change anything during a leap year, as this will not bring the desired result and can even be disastrous. During such a period, you should not plan to move to new house, job change, divorce or marriage.
Is it possible to get married on a leap year?
A leap year is considered extremely unlucky for marriage. Since ancient times, it was believed that a wedding played in a leap year would lead to an unhappy marriage, divorce, infidelity, widowhood, or the marriage itself would be short-lived. This superstition may be due to the fact that in a leap year, girls could woo anyone they liked young man, who could not refuse the offer. Often such marriages were forced, and therefore family life didn't ask.
However, you should treat these signs wisely and understand that everything depends on the spouses themselves and how they build the relationship. If you do plan a wedding, there are several ways to mitigate the “consequences”:
Brides are advised to wear long dress for a wedding, covering the knees to make the marriage last.
It is not recommended to give a wedding dress and other wedding accessories to anyone.
The ring should be worn on the hand, not the glove, since wearing a ring on the glove will cause the spouses to take the marriage lightly
To protect the family from troubles and misfortunes, a coin was placed in the shoes of the bride and groom.
The bride must keep the spoon from which the groom ate, and on the 3rd, 7th and 40th day after the wedding, the wife had to give her husband something to eat from this particular spoon.
What should you not do during a leap year?
· During a leap year, people do not carol at Christmas time, as it is believed that you can lose your happiness. Also, according to a sign, a caroler who dresses up as an animal or monster can take on the personality of an evil spirit. · Pregnant women should not cut their hair before giving birth, as the baby may be born unhealthy.
· During a leap year, you should not start building a bathhouse, which can lead to illness.
· During a leap year, it is not recommended to tell others about your plans and intentions, as luck may change.
· It is not recommended to sell or exchange animals and kittens should not be drowned, as this will lead to poverty.
· You cannot pick mushrooms, as it is believed that they all become poisonous.
· During a leap year, there is no need to celebrate the appearance of a child’s first tooth. According to legend, if you invite guests, your teeth will be bad.
· You cannot change your job or apartment. According to the sign, the new place will turn out to be joyless and turbulent.
· If a child is born in a leap year, he must be baptized as quickly as possible, and godparents must be chosen among blood relatives.
· Elderly people should not buy funeral items in advance, as this may hasten death.
· You can’t get a divorce, because in the future you won’t be able to find your happiness.
For centuries, humanity has created a history that has been passed down from generation to generation. Myths or reality about the leap year that have survived to this day make everyone think about this inexplicable fact.
What is a leap year?
The term "leap year" in Latin has a numerical value - 2nd/6th. It represents, from a scientific point of view, the fourth year, exceeding standard quantity days (366).
Leap year historical period
During the reign of Yu. Caesar, the Roman calendar had an additional repeated day, with one date (the twenty-fourth of February).
The Romans counted days and years by looking at the Julian Calendar.
In the Julian calendar, every fourth year was considered a leap year, and the last two days of February were on the same date.
After the death of the Roman ruler, the priests deliberately began to call the third year a leap year. There was a shift in the annual time and people, for this reason, lived as many as twelve leap years.
Thanks to the decree of the new emperor in Rome - Augustus Octavian, everything fell into place. It took sixteen whole years to establish the correct “leap time”.
Sixteen centuries later Orthodox Church reintroduced new changes to the calendar.
Chapter catholic church Pope Gregory XIII made a proposal to calculate the calendar according to new rules. He proposed introducing an additional day in February with a different date (the twenty-ninth of February). On general meeting, before the upcoming Easter, the idea of the head of the Catholic Church was successfully accepted. The Roman calendar had a new chronology. In honor of the ruler of the Catholic Church, it began to be called “Gregorian”.
Modern concept of leap year
It is a well-known fact that a year consists of 365 days. The subsequent fourth year is considered a leap year. It is longer by one day.
In a leap year, February has not twenty-eight days, but twenty-nine, but this phenomenon happens once every four years.
Leap year signs and superstitions
Our Slavic ancestors They thought that leap year was a mystical, superstitious year. Probably the reason lies in the distant story of Saint Kasyan.
Saint Kasyan served in the Galilean monastery and was its founder. He became famous through his writing, writing twenty-four essays on the “Interview”, based on a moral, Christian attitude towards faith.
The main flaw in the life of Saint Kasyan was that the date of his birth fell on last number February, and even at the end of the year.
According to Slavic belief, the last day of the year was considered the end of a harsh winter. For this reason, the holy monk gained notoriety.
Superstitious Slavs considered the last day of a leap year to be the most difficult. They believed in evil spirits and evil spirits. This is where people's fear of leap years came from.
The signs of a leap year were associated with Saint Kasyan:
- If Kasyan approached the people, the disease attacked them.
- Kasyan was close to the animals - their death was inevitable.
- Wherever Kasyan’s gaze falls, there will be trouble and devastation.
- Kasyanov's year is approaching unsuccessfully - barren.
According to legend, you don’t need to do a lot of things during a leap year, for example:
- Play weddings
- Plan pregnancy, give birth to children
- Create new projects
- Go to the forest to pick mushrooms
- Cut hair
- File for divorce
- Borrow money
- Plant new seeds
- Do renovations indoors
- Purchasing real estate
Leap year approaching modern society causes mixed opinions. One part of society believes in his negative actions, the other does not.
The downside of a leap year:
- Natural disasters
- Disasters
- Military conflicts
- Frequent accidents
- Lost
- Fires
The positive side of a leap year
People born in a leap year are creative and talented. Endowed with bright charisma, strong character, love of life (Julius Caesar, Leonardo da Vinci, Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Gauguin).
Today, leap year is perceived as a year of disasters, wars, and disasters. After all, the most terrible events occurred during this period.
People are susceptible to believing something, and most often it is bad. Leap year is perceived as a time of loss, disappointment, and sadness. Is it so? You only have to ask yourself.
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2018 will not be a leap year, because an additional 366 day, February 29, is added only once every four years. The previous leap year was 2016, which means the next one will only be in 2020.
All leap years are shown in the table below:
How many days in 2018
The question is how many days will there be in 2018 365 or 366 interests many. The number of days in a year determines the norms of working hours, the calculation of interest on loans and deposits, the calculation of salaries and much more. Since the year will not be a leap year, it means The duration of 2018 will be 365 days.
In addition, whether 2018 is a leap year or not is of interest to people who are inclined to believe in superstitions and folk signs. After all, popular wisdom claims that a leap year brings tragedies, illnesses, big and small troubles.
So, for example:
- February 29, the so-called Kasyanov day, is the worst day for the birth of a baby. Not only is someone born on this unlucky day predicted to have the same unfortunate fate, but they can also celebrate their birthday only once every four years!
- Extremely bad omen It is considered to be a wedding in a leap year. People say that such a family will not live together for long. the imminent breakdown of the family, betrayal and misfortune, even the death of the spouses.
- If a child was born in a leap year, the baptism ceremony must be performed as quickly as possible. In this case, godparents must be blood relatives.
2018 is the year of the widow or widower
Another one folk sign states that the year following a leap year will be the year of the widow, and the year of the widow will be the year of the widower. Since 2016 was a leap year, then 2018 is the year of the widower. That is, according to superstitions, in couples who get married during 2018, the man will remain a widower.
Modern astrologers and psychics categorically deny such signs and strongly advise young people to set a wedding date for 2018. After all, according to Chinese horoscope the coming year will be the year of the Dog, and this zodiac animal is a symbol home comfort and peace of mind.
Another “consolation” for people prone to superstition: there are no statistics that could confirm the facts about the years of a widow or widower. The Orthodox Church also opposes such prejudices - main collateral A strong family means mutual love and respect.
How to find out which year will be a leap year
Determining whether a leap year is or not is quite simple. You can, for example, remember which Last year was a leap year and count periods of four years, because it is with this frequency that a “leap year” occurs - every fourth year.
In addition, if you don’t remember when the leap year was, there is a simple rule by which you can calculate how many days there are 365 or 366 in a year:
If the year you are interested in can be divided by 4 without a remainder, then the year is a leap year and has 366 days. All other years are 365 days long and are not leap years.
As with every rule, there is an exception: years with trailing zeros are leap years only if they are a multiple of 400. That is, 2000 was a leap year, but 1900, 1800, 1700 were not.
A leap year occurs once every four years. But why then was 1904 a leap year, 1900 was not, and 2000 was again?
The Summer Olympics are held in a leap year - where did this order come from? And why do we need any special “extended” years at all? How are they different from ordinary ones? Let's figure it out.
Who introduced leap years into the calendar?
Ancient Roman astronomers were well aware that a year on Earth lasts 365 days and a few more hours. Because of this, the calendar year, which then consisted of a constant number of days, did not coincide with the astronomical one. The excess hours gradually accumulated, turning into days. Calendar dates gradually shifted and deviated from natural phenomena such as the equinoxes. A group of astronomers led by Sosigenes, working at the court of Julius Caesar, proposed adjusting the calendar. According to the new chronology, every fourth year was extended by one day. This year began to be called bis sextus, which in Latin means "second sixth" . In Russian this word was transformed into "leap" - that’s what we call it to this day.
By order of Julius Caesar, a new calendar was introduced starting in 45 BC. After the death of the emperor, there was a glitch in the calculation of leap years, and the countdown began again from the 8th year of our era. That's why even years are leap years today.
It was decided to add a day to the last, shortest month of the year, which already “didn’t have enough days.” IN Ancient Rome New Year was celebrated on March 1, so the extra 366th day was added to February. New calendar began to be called “Julian” in honor of Caesar. By the way, the Orthodox and some other churches still live according to the Julian calendar - this is a tribute to tradition.
And again the calendar changes
Astronomical observations continued, the methods became more and more precise. Over time, astrologers realized that the duration of the earth's year is not 365 days and 6 hours, but slightly less. (We now know that a year lasts 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 46 seconds.) 
The use of the Julian calendar led to the fact that the calendar began to lag behind the real flow of time. Astronomers have noticed that the spring equinox occurs much earlier than the day allotted to it according to the calendar, that is, March 21. There was a need to adjust the calendar, which was done by decree of Pope Gregory XIII in 1582.
To compensate for the discrepancy, they decided to set leap years according to a new rule. It was necessary to reduce their number, which was done. From that moment on, all years that are divisible by four are still considered leap years, except those that are divisible by 100. For even more accurate calculation, years that are divisible by 400 are still considered leap years.
That is why 1900 (like 1700 and 1800) was not a leap year, but 2000 (like 1600) was.
The new calendar was named Gregorian in honor of the Pope - all countries of the world currently live according to it. Julian calendar used by a number of Christian churches, including the Russian Orthodox Church.
Rule for determining leap years
So, leap years are determined using a simple algorithm:
If a year is divisible by 4 but not divisible by 100, it is a leap year;
If a year is divisible by 100, it is not considered a leap year;
If a year is divisible by 100 and also divisible by 400, it is a leap year.
How is a leap year different from others?
Only one - it has 366 days, with an additional day assigned to February. Despite the fact that the year now begins on January 1, which means the last month of the year is December, we still give an extra day to February. He's the shortest - we'll feel sorry for him!
And let's rejoice for those who were born on February 29 in a leap year. These “lucky ones” celebrate their birthday once every four years, which makes this event more long-awaited and desirable than for other people.
What happens during a leap year?
Leap years were chosen to host the main sporting event of mankind - the Olympics. Now in leap years only summer games, and winter ones - with a shift of two years. The sports community adheres to the most ancient tradition, which was established by the first Olympians - the ancient Greeks. 
It was they who decided that such a grandiose event should not happen too often - once every four years. The four-year cycle coincided with the alternation of leap years, so the modern Olympics began to be held in leap years.
sharky:
03/25/2013 at 16:04
Why on earth is 1900 not a leap year? A leap year occurs every 4 years, i.e. If it is divisible by 4, it is a leap year. And no more divisions by 100 or 400 are needed.
It’s normal to ask questions, but before you assert anything, study the hardware. The Earth revolves around the sun in 365 days 5 hours 48 minutes 46 seconds. As you can see, the remainder is not exactly 6 hours, but 11 minutes 14 seconds less. This means that by making a leap year we add extra time. Somewhere over 128 years, extra days accumulate. Therefore, every 128 years in one of the 4-year cycles there is no need to make a leap year in order to get rid of these extra days. But to simplify things, every 100th year is not a leap year. Is the idea clear? Fine. What then should we do next, since an extra day is added every 128 years, and we cut it off every 100 years? Yes, we cut off more than we should, and this needs to be returned at some point.
If the first paragraph is clear and still interesting, then read on, but it will be more difficult.
So, in 100 years, 100/128 = 25/32 days of excess time accumulates (that’s 18 hours 45 minutes). We do not make a leap year, that is, we subtract one day: we get 25/32-32/32 = -7/32 days (that’s 5 hours 15 minutes), that is, we subtract the excess. After four cycles of 100 years (after 400 years), we will subtract an extra 4 * (-7/32) = -28/32 days (this is minus 21 hours). For the 400th year we make a leap year, that is, we add a day (24 hours): -28/32+32/32=4/32=1/8 (that’s 3 hours).
We make every 4th year a leap year, but at the same time every 100th year is not a leap year, and at the same time every 400th year is a leap year, but still every 400 years an extra 3 hours are added. After 8 cycles of 400 years, that is, after 3200 years, an extra 24 hours will accumulate, that is, one day. Then another one is added required condition: Every 3200th year must not be a leap year. 3200 years can be rounded up to 4000, but then you will again have to play with added or trimmed days.
3200 years have not passed, so this condition, if it is made this way, is not yet talked about. But 400 years have already passed since the approval of the Gregorian calendar.
Years that are multiples of 400 are always leap years (for now), other years that are multiples of 100 are not leap years, and other years that are multiples of 4 are leap years.
The calculation I gave shows that in the current state, an error in one day will accumulate over 3200 years, but here’s what Wikipedia writes about it:
“An error of one day compared to the year of the equinoxes in the Gregorian calendar will accumulate in approximately 10,000 years (in the Julian calendar - approximately in 128 years). A frequently encountered estimate, leading to a value of the order of 3000 years, is obtained if one does not take into account that the number of days in the tropical year changes over time and, in addition, the relationship between the lengths of the seasons changes.” From the same Wikipedia, the formula for the length of a year in days with fractions paints a good picture:
365,2425=365+0,25-0,01+0,0025=265+1/4-1/100+1/400
The year 1900 was not a leap year, but 2000 was, and special, because such a leap year happens once every 400 years.