Facts
Leap years are years with 366 days, instead of the usual 365. Leap years are necessary because the actual length of a year is 365.242 days, not 365 days, as commonly stated. Basically, leap years occur every 4 years, and years that are evenly divisible by 4 (2004, for example) have 366 days. This extra day is added to the calendar on February 29th.
However, there is one exception to the leap year rule involving century years, like the year 1900. Since the year is slightly less than 365.25 days long, adding an extra day every 4 years results in about 3 extra days being added over a period of 400 years. For this reason, only 1 out of every 4 century years is considered as a leap year. Century years are only considered as leap year if they are evenly divisible by 400. Therefore, 1700, 1800, 1900 were not leap years, and 2100 will not be a leap year. 1600 and 2000 were leap years, because those year numbers are evenly divisible by 400.
The privilege of ladies
Leap Year has been the traditional time that women can propose marriage.
Superstition
There is a Greek superstition that claims couples have bad luck if they marry during a leap year. Apparently one in five engaged couples in Greece will avoid planning their wedding during a leap year.
According to the Encyclopedia of Superstition 1949; due to the topsy-turvy idea of courtship, some people believe that broad beans grow the wrong way and that leap years are never good sheep years.
Superstition decrees leap years are notably excellent for beginning important undertakings or business ventures.
Leaplings
A person who was born on 29 February may be called a "leapling". For legal purposes, their birthdays depend on how different laws count time intervals. In England and Wales the legal birthday of a leapling is 28 February in common years. So a leapling born on 29 February 1980 (example) would have legally reached 18 years old on 28 February 1998.
Give me a break!
Feel like you need a break from your job? Count yourself lucky if you live in Finland then. Finnish workers receive the most paid holiday of any other country, 44 days off each year (30 vacation days plus 14 holidays). (2007 survey by Mercer Resources, a global human resources firm).
By comparison, employees in the United States get 25 days off yearly on average (15 vacation days and 10 holidays)
Here are a few comparisons:
| Australia | 31 |
|---|---|
| Cyprus | 36 |
| Denmark | 35 |
| Finland | 44 |
| Japan | 35 |
| Morocco | 39 |
| Poland | 36 |
| Sweden | 39 |
| UK | 28 |
