New Year 2020 is a leap year. February will have 29 days, a rule that is repeated every 4 years. But what is a leap year?
It's a year with 366 days, according to the Gregorian calendar, every 4 years:
"A year is fragile if its number can be divided by four, except for centuries, (which are commensurate with 100,) that cannot be multiplied by 400."
In the Anglo-Saxon world, the leap year is called "Leap year", ie the year of transition. February 29th is St. Patrick's Day and is traditionally the only date on which girls can ask their fiancée to marry. Tradition wants her to have 12 pairs of gloves, one for each month, to hide the girl's ringless hand.
It was Jul Cesar who introduced the "added" day of February. This to equate the accounts with the 6 hours remaining each year according to his astronomer's calculations. It was Pope Gregory XIII who by papal decision decided in 1582 to eliminate 3 fragile years, because he was seen moving forward, adding one day, every four years, endangering the Passover.
The Romans thought that the fragile year was also a sad year, which brought great epidemics and tragedies. Others think it's the whale's year, because the whale is thought to be born every four years. The fragile years coincide with the realization of the Olympics.
The chance of giving birth in a "leap year" is 1 in 1,461. In ordinary years, those born on February 29th celebrate their birthday on February 28th or March 1st, but there is a debate here as well. Some suggest that those born before noon on February 29 should celebrate their birthday on the 28th, while those born after noon should celebrate on March 1.
The "leap year" is also known as the year when women can take the liberty of proposing to men for marriage. The legend dates back to the 5th century, when an Irish nun, St. Bridget, complained to St. Patrick that women had to wait long until their marriage proposal came. So St. Patrick decided to allow women to ask those men every four years.
