The year 2024 began with new intentions and goals for millions of people, but many have also wondered why it is a leap year.
The fact that this year has an extra day, namely 366 days instead of 365, surprises more than one who still does not understand the reasons for this.
In this way, every four years the month of February does not have 28 days in the calendar as usual, but a new day is added to fill a gap created on Earth.
What is the origin of the leap year?
The origin of the leap year is related to the translational movement that the Earth makes to make one complete revolution around the Sun.
That's because every year there's a gap between the 365 days our planet needs for this process, so it adds up to a year.
But in reality, the Earth makes this movement in about 365.25 days, so we stop counting 6 hours every year.
For this reason, an additional day (2024) is added to the calendar every four years to make up for this missing day that the Earth adds to its orbit around the Sun.
Therefore, leap years are important to keep the calendar in sync with the astronomical year and seasons.
Without it, the gap between the calendar and the seasons would widen and control over time could become chaos.
This leap year tradition dates back to ancient Rome. In 46 B.C. In 400 BC, Roman Emperor Julius Caesar introduced the Julian calendar, which had 365 days and an additional day every four years.
This calendar was used in Europe for centuries until it was replaced in the 16th century by the Gregorian calendar, adopted by Pope Gregory XIII. was introduced by stipulating that it would take 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 56 seconds for the Earth to flip our star.
The Gregorian calendar has been in effect since 1582. In general, the four-year rule is maintained, but a new condition has been introduced: three leap years are canceled every four centuries.
In addition, it was determined that a year is a leap year if it is divisible by four.
Throughout history, leap years have also shaped the world. For example, important personalities died during these years or various disasters occurred.
However, a curious fact is that the Olympic Games, which take place every four years, always took place in a leap year.
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