February is the shortest month of the year with just 28 days - unless it is a leap year in which case there are 29 days Show
 The next leap year will be in 2024. A leap year happens once every four years to keep the calendar year synchronised with the astronomical year. They have to exist because it takes 365.25 days for the Earth to orbit the sun. This number is rounded down to 365 days and an extra day is added to the calendar year to make up for the time. If there was no such thing as a leap year then seasons would slowly shift and eventually it could be snowing in July or 30 degrees in December. When is the next leap year?The next leap year will not be for two more years - it lands on 29 February 2024. The last leap year was 2020. Leap years only occur on years that are divisible by four so that they can be evenly divided by 400. Recent leap years have included: 2020, 2016, 2008, 2004, 2000, 1996, 1992. The upcoming leap years will be: 2024, 2028, 2032, 2036, 2040, 2044. Myths and fun facts about leap yearsPeople born on 29 February are known as ‘leaplings’ or ‘leapers’ and only get to celebrate a true birthday once every four years. There are approximately four million ‘leaplings’ in the world - there is only a 1,461 chance that a baby will be born on 29 February. Famous ‘leaplings’ include: Ja Rule, Tony Robbins, Khaled, Lena Gercke, Dinah Shore and Gerard Darmon. Leaplings often celebrate their birthdays the day before or after their true birth date. There is a special festival in America for Leaplings - it is held in New Mexico and anyone born on 29 February gets free entry. In south Germany there is an annual tradition where boys leave decorated ribbons on the doorsteps of their crush - during a leap year this is flipped and the girls get to leave ribbons for the boys of their dreams instead. Leap years were first invented by the Romans as a way to keep their seasons on track. Why do women propose on leap years?The Irish tradition stems from a fifth century legend in which St Patrick allowed women to propose to their romantic partners after St Brigid complained that men were taking too long to pop the question. If a man refused the proposal then he had to buy the woman a new silk gown. It is not just an Irish tradition as it also travelled to Scotland in 1288 where Queen Margaret decreed that women could also propose on a leap year if they wore a red petticoat. In modern times there are of course no laws about proposing but it is still considered a fun tradition and is sometimes known as Bachelor’s Day or Ladies Privilege. The 2010 film Leap Year, starring Amy Adams, tells the tale of a woman who is desperate to use the tradition of leap year proposals but instead falls for an Irish man she meets on her travels. It is not a tradition that is carried out worldwide in fact in Greece it is deemed unlucky to get married on a leap year. It is often said that those who do marry on leap years have a higher chance of divorce than those who do not. A message from the editor: Thank you for reading. NationalWorld is a new national news brand, produced by a team of journalists, editors, video producers and designers who live and work across the UK. Find out more about who’s who in the team, and our editorial values. We want to start a community among our readers, so please follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and keep the conversation going. You can also sign up to our email newsletters and get a curated selection of our best reads to your inbox every day. When is the next leap year? Date, how many days are in a leap year - and why we have them explained The years seem to pass by quicker and quicker with each one that comes and goes, but all years do actually have the same amount of days and hours - with the exception of leap years. The UK, along with most of the world, follows the Gregorian calendar which gives us 365 days a year - but every four years we gain an extra day. These years are called leap years. But, just what are leap years, why do we have them, when is the extra day and what happens on leap years? Here is everything you need to know. An extra date is added to February every leap year.When is the next leap year?The next leap year will be in 2024. How many days are there in a leap year?There are 366 days in a leap year, which is one day more than an average year which has 365 years. The extra day will be added in February, so instead of the usual 28 days of February there will be 29 days in February 2024. How often do leap years occur?Leap years happen every four years. This means that the last leap year was in 2020, and after 2024 the next leap year will be 2028. The next three leaps years after that will be in 2032, 2036 and 2040. Why do we have leap years?Leap days occur so that our calendar is kept in alignment with the Earth’s revolutions around the Sun. It takes the Earth approximately 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 45 seconds – to circle once around the Sun. This is slightly more than the 365 days that we have every year, and so every four years an extra day needs to be added to account for these extra hours. This is because the additional hours add up to an extra day after four years. Without an extra day every four years, we would lose almost six hours every year. This may not sound like a lot, but the implications would be bigger in the longer term. After only 100 years, for example, a calendar without leap years would be off by approximately 24 days. This means that seasonal days such as the autumn equinox and winter solstice would, therefore, shift in relation to the months in the calendar. For example, in 100 years, the Northern Hemisphere’s autumnal equinox, which falls in late September, would fall in late August, and in a few centuries, August would become a spring month. What happens on a leap year?Most people’s day-to-day lives are not affected by the leap year. People who were born on a leap year, who are known as leapers or leaplings, have the opportunity to celebrate their actual birthdate when 29 February happens. Every other year, people who were born on February 29 have to mark their birthday on either 28 February or 1 March. According to an Irish tradition known as Bachelor’s Day, women are allowed to propose on 29 February. This tradition once had legal basis in Scotland and England, but in modern day women can propose to their partners when they like - although many do still observe the tradition. Why 2024 will be a leap year?What is a leap year? To be a leap year, the year number must be divisible by four – except for end-of-century years, which must be divisible by 400. This means that the year 2000 was a leap year, although 1900 was not. 2020, 2024 and 2028 are all leap years.
Why does February have 29 days some years?February 29 is a date that usually occurs every four years, and is called the leap day. This day is added to the calendar in leap years as a corrective measure because the Earth does not orbit the Sun in precisely 365 days. The Gregorian calendar is a modification of the Julian calendar first used by the Romans.
Is 2024 a leap year how many days?There are 366 days in a leap year, which is one day more than an average year which has 365 years. The extra day will be added in February, so instead of the usual 28 days of February there will be 29 days in February 2024.
Is 2022 a leap year True or false?The bad news, this year is not a leap year since it is only 2022, but the good news is the next leap year is 2024, only 2 years or about 730 and a half days away! From that point, the following leap years would be 2028, 2032 and 2036.
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