Leap years: list, history, signs and superstitions. Interesting facts and signs about leap year

2016 is a leap year with 366 days instead of the usual 365. Leap year was proposed to synchronize calendars. Did you know that not every 4th year is a leap year?Why is a leap year considered unlucky, and what signs are associated with it?Here are a few facts you may not know about leap year.

What does leap year mean?

1 . A leap year is a year that has 366 days rather than the usual 365. An additional day in a leap year is added in February - February 29 (leap day).

An additional 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 year, multiple of 4 and multiple of 400, but not 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, 2096

February 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 . One in five couples in Greece avoid getting married on a leap year, as it is believed to brings bad luck.

In Italy it is believed that during a leap year the woman becomes unpredictable and at this time there is no need to plan 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 powers. Among the famous people born on February 29 are the poet Lord Byron, composer Gioachino Rossini, and 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 correctly, you can celebrate while traveling from one country to another longest birthday in the world.

9. The city of Anthony in Texas, USA is a self-proclaimed " world capital of leap year"A festival is held here every year, where those born on February 29 gather from all over the world.

10. Record largest number of generations born on Leap Day, belongs 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 the largest number of children born on 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 a 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 popular belief, 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, on a leap year you can't start anything. This applies to important matters, business, major purchases, investments and construction.

Is it possible to get married on a leap year?

Leap year is considered extremely unsuccessful 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 any young man they liked, who could not refuse the proposal. Often such marriages were forced, and therefore family life did not work out.

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 wedding, covering the knees to make the marriage last.

Wedding dress and other wedding accessories It is not recommended to give it to anyone.

The ring should be worn on the hand, not the glove., since wearing a ring on a glove will cause the spouses to take marriage lightly

To protect the family from troubles and misfortunes, a coin was placed in the shoes of the bride and groom.

What should you not do during a leap year?

· During a leap year don't carol at Christmas time, since 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 have their hair cut before giving birth, since the child may be born unhealthy.

· During a leap year do not start building a bathhouse, which can lead to illness.

· You can't pick mushrooms, as it is believed that they all become poisonous.

· In a leap year there is no need to celebrate the appearance baby's first tooth. According to legend, if you invite guests, your teeth will be bad.

· You can't change jobs or apartments. According to the sign, the new place will turn out to be joyless and turbulent.

· If a child is born on a leap year, it must be baptize as quickly as possible, and choose godparents among blood relatives.

· Elderly people are not allowed buy things for the funeral in advance, as this can bring death closer.

· You can't get a divorce, because in the future you will not 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 the standard number of 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, the Orthodox Church again introduced new changes to the calendar.

The head of the 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). At a 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 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 the last day of 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

The approach of a leap year in 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.

In the Julian and Gregorian calendars, a leap year is a year that consists of 366 days. Thus, it differs from the usual one by the presence of an “extra” day. In the Julian calendar, every fourth year is a leap year. As for the Gregorian, its approach to determining a leap year is similar, but with a few exceptions.

What are leap years in the Gregorian calendar?

To be considered a leap year, the year number must first be divisible by four. Regarding zero years, from which centuries begin, they are considered leap years only if their number is a multiple of 400. So, for example, the year 2000 is a leap year, while the year 1900 is not.

Regarding the question of how many days are there in a leap year, the most widely used Gregorian calendar in the world contains 366 days. The “extra” day is February 29th. Thus, people born on this day officially celebrate their birthday once every four years. This is an interesting feature of leap years.

Where does the extra day come from?

Our planet constantly revolves around its celestial body - the Sun. The Earth completes a full revolution in 365 days and several hours. This period of time is called a “year”. For ease of calculation, the “extra” few hours are not taken into account for three years. In the fourth year, the additional hours are added up and, as a result, you get an “extra” day, which is usually added to every fourth February.

Leap years: list for the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries

Taking into account the above-mentioned rules for determining leap years, it is possible to form a list of them over the past centuries. So, in the 19th century these were: 1804, 1808, 1812, 1816, 1820, 1824, 1828, 1832, 1836, 1840, 1844, 1848, 1852, 1856, 1860, 1864, 1868, 1872, , 1880, 1884, 1888, 1892, 1896.

In the 20th century, leap years, respectively, were 1904, 1908, 1912, 1916, 1920, 1924, 1928, 1932, 1936, 1940, 1944, 1948, 1952, 1956, 1960, 1964, 1972, , 1976, 1980, 1984 , 1988, 1992, 1996.

As for the 21st century, in which we are all lucky to live, leap years were 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012. The next leap year will be 2016.

The mysticism of leap year

Despite the fact that the origin and features of leap years have long been studied and are absolutely clear, many people are wary of their arrival. It just so happens that a leap year is considered something strange and in some places even dangerous. However, if you analyze history, in ordinary years there were no fewer different kinds of cataclysms and negative events than in leap years. Therefore, you should not attach any special significance to leap years.

Undoubtedly, almost everyone knows that a year usually has 365 days, but a leap year is longer by a whole day. People believe that a leap year brings great sorrows, tragedies, illnesses, big and small troubles. Some call such thinking superstition, while others firmly believe in an “unlucky” year.

Currently, our lives are already filled with horrors and fears that seem to lurk around every corner, so people are asking the question in advance - Is 2017 a leap year or not?? We will be happy to answer your burning question and tell you a little about leap year itself.

Is 2017 a leap year?

No, not a leap year, since it only has 365 days. But 2016, which is already beginning to come to an end, is just that. The Year of the Monkey turned out to be difficult, there were all sorts of things - floods, and various disasters, both local and general.

It is not without reason that people say that a leap year brings with it misfortunes. For years, centuries, people have been observing the events taking place, thanks to which the leap year earned the title of a bad year.

How to determine whether it is a leap year or not

In fact, everything is not as complicated as it seems at first glance. Someone simply remembers which year is a leap year and counts down four years, because it is with this frequency that a “leap year” occurs - every fourth year.

But what if you completely forgot when the leap year was and you urgently need to determine the number of days of the next year - 365 or 366?

In this case, there are three simple rules, thanks to which you can easily calculate what year it is now or will ever be later.

A certain year with zeros at the end is a leap year, when it is divisible by “4”, “100”, and “400” without a remainder. For example, 2000/4=500; 2000/100=20; 2000/400=5. But the years 1800 and 1900 are not leap years, and they are not divisible by “400”, but divisible by “4” and “100”.
If a certain year is divisible by “4” without a remainder, then it is a leap year. For example, 2016/4=504; 2020/4=505 etc.
If a certain year is divisible by both “4” and “100” and “1000” without a remainder, then it is a leap year. For example, 2000/1000=2.

These rules were formulated by none other than the creator of the Gregorian calendar, Pope Gregory XIII back in 1582.

The history of the phenomenon of leap year

Back in 45 BC. Alexandrian astrologers, on the orders of Julius Caesar, developed the Julian year, according to which the astronomical year contained 365 days and 6 hours. It was precisely in order to somehow even out the time shift that the concept of a leap year was introduced. For three years the usual calculation of 365 days continued, and in the fourth year February added one more day to its 28 days. Why February? The answer is simple - in the Roman Empire, February was considered the final month of the year.

So, February 29 began to appear in calendars every 4 years. Two years after the introduction of the leap year, Julius Caesar died in an unequal battle with traitors. The priests, apparently, misunderstood the calendar created by the Roman dictator, and for 36 years after the death of Caesar, a leap year occurred not every four, but every three years. Emperor Augustus managed to restore order.

Popular beliefs in leap year

In Latin, leap year is translated as “second sixth.” The duration of bis sextus is 366 days. The “added” day scares people, which creates entire superstitions around every fourth year.

They say that February 29 is the most difficult and difficult day in terms of health. This extra day is called Kasyan's day and is considered demonic. If you work on this day, nothing will come of it. They also try not to go outside again, otherwise the risk of sudden death increases. Even newborn babies who are “unlucky” to be born on this day are expected to have superstitions that “kind” people will put into the child’s head from infancy. According to ancient beliefs, those born on February 29 will be seriously ill and will leave our world early.

The most common superstition associated with leap year is weddings. Mothers strictly forbid their children from getting married in this “terrible” year. A marriage entered into during a leap year is doomed to be unhappy. This is the opinion mainly in villages and villages.

You also can’t radically change something in your life. Moving, changing jobs, and even having a pet are prohibited. In a word, it is better to postpone any changes until better times.

If you believe the observations of our ancestors, a leap year will only bring great declines, small and grandiose problems. You need to be as careful and prudent as possible this year. Pregnant women should not cut their hair, young people should not sing carols, they should not tell anyone about plans for the future and much, much more. Even getting divorced during a leap year is undesirable.

Some people follow all the beliefs and are actually afraid of leap years. Others are more optimistic about the future. They are sure that once they have lived to see a leap year, this is already good, and they wish everyone many more leap years.

A year is a certain period of time when our planet completely passes through the orbit of the Sun. The number comes out to be a little more than 368 days, the difference is small ─ almost 6 hours. However, the luminaries of world science decided to correct this “error” in the Earth’s movement and introduced the 29th day into the last winter month. For this reason, every 4 years we have a leap year, and there is no escape from it.

When is the leap year: we’ll find out for sure

Not all people keep track of when the last leap year was and, moreover, do not track the approach of the next one. However, this is the year we are living in right now. There are many different beliefs and signs regarding leap years, so it is not surprising if a person is interested in, say, a leap year, when was the last time? After this, there is an active count up to 4, and now we will tell you why.

When is the next leap year and what can it bring?

If a year is divisible by either 4, or 100, or 400 without a remainder, then we can definitely say that it is a leap year. Old people do not like them and are even afraid of them, because it is believed:

In such a year, more people die;
marriages concluded at this time are short-lived;
changes in life will not bring any benefit;

By the way, are you aware? And we know - find out for yourself!

You can watch more interesting things in the video from YouTube. Read, share with your loved ones and be always happy at any time.

These are the most common thoughts, and if your friend asks: when was the previous leap year, can you tell me? You will already know exactly the reason for his fears!

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