Who invented leap year day

Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. Share Flipboard Email. Mary Bellis. Inventions Expert.

Mary Bellis covered inventions and inventors for ThoughtCo for 18 years. She is known for her independent films and documentaries, including one about Alexander Graham Bell. Updated January 02, Featured Video. Cite this Article Format. Bellis, Mary. Special Projects Highline. HuffPost Personal Video Horoscopes. Follow Us.

Terms Privacy Policy. Part of HuffPost Science. All rights reserved. Why is the extra day added in February? Where did our current calendar come from? Okay, so is the Gregorian calendar good to go? All rights reserved. Share Tweet Email. Why it's so hard to treat pain in infants. This wild African cat has adapted to life in a big city. Animals Wild Cities This wild African cat has adapted to life in a big city Caracals have learned to hunt around the urban edges of Cape Town, though the predator faces many threats, such as getting hit by cars.

India bets its energy future on solar—in ways both small and big. Environment Planet Possible India bets its energy future on solar—in ways both small and big Grassroots efforts are bringing solar panels to rural villages without electricity, while massive solar arrays are being built across the country. Go Further. Animals Climate change is shrinking many Amazonian birds. Animals Wild Cities This wild African cat has adapted to life in a big city. Animals This frog mysteriously re-evolved a full set of teeth.

Animals Wild Cities Wild parakeets have taken a liking to London. Animals Wild Cities Morocco has 3 million stray dogs. Meet the people trying to help. Environment COP26 nears conclusion with mixed signals and frustration. Environment Planet Possible India bets its energy future on solar—in ways both small and big. So legend has it that St. Patrick designated the only day that does not occur annually, February 29, as a day on which women would be allowed to propose to men.

In some places, Leap Day thus became known as Bachelor's Day. This tradition hopped the Irish Sea to Scotland and England, where the British added a twist—if a man rejected a woman's proposal, he owed her a debt of several pairs of fine gloves, perhaps to hide the fact that she did not have an engagement ring.

In Greek tradition, however, it is considered bad luck to marry on Leap Day, and statistics suggest that Greek couples continue to take this superstition seriously. There are only about 5 million people in the whole world who were born on February 29, with the odds of being born on Leap Day standing at about 1-in-1, Several famous people—including actress and singer Dinah Shore born , motivational speaker Tony Robbins born and hip-hop artist Ja Rule born —are leaplings.

Leaplings technically only get to celebrate their birthdays once every four years, but they do get to be part of an elite group. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Twice a week we compile our most fascinating features and deliver them straight to you. Live TV.