Why Do We Have a Leap Year?

When I was growing up, I always thought it'd be cool to have a birthday on Leap Day. February 29th. It's a special day as it only comes around every four years. Looking back, If I was born on February 29th I'd only be about 12 or 13 at this point. Not even old enough to buy beer.

So we get to celebrate a Leap Year this year and Leap Day is on Saturday. Some notable celebs that have a birthday on Leap Day include Superman, Antonio Sabato Jr. and Tony Robbins.

So let's look at why we have a Leap Year. Here's a quick lesson courtesy of our friends at Morning Brew.

In 45 BCE, Julius Caesar adopted the Egyptians’ 365-day solar calendar, and added Leap Days to keep the seasons on track.

But Caesar's formulation still made the year about 11 minutes too long...which adds up over time. So, in the 16th century, Pope Gregory XIII made a new rule: We’d skip Leap Day on centennial years (1700, 1900) unless they're divisible by 400 (so there was a Leap Day in 2000). Then, he deleted 10 days from October of 1582 and ruined a bunch of Libras’ birthdays.

Fast forward to 1752: The U.S. and Britain adopted the Gregorian calendar, and we haven’t changed a thing since. However, some scientists think it's time we do.

Make sense?