It’s February 29th again, but why do we have leap years?

If you are reading this, it’s probably because it is February 29th. The extra day added to the shortest month of the Gregorian Calendar just about every 4 years, more on that later, that is supposed to keep everything all lined up. This according to an article published by the Smithsonian Institute by Dr. Bob Craddock, a geologist, back in 2020.

Dr. Craddock goes on to mention the math of it all, breaking down an actual Earth day equaling 23.262222 hours instead of the much easier to follow 24 hours we are all familiar with. So by adding in that extra day every 4 years it evens our clock back out and we go on with our year.

But remember how I mentioned “just about” every 4 years? Well with that calculation and adding a day, that number ends up making our calendar off by 44 minutes each year according to Dr. Craddock. So every so often we have to skip the leap year to stay on track. And the next time that happens? The year 2100.

If you would like read Dr. Craddock’s full article, click here.