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Bissextile Day
(also known as LEAP DAY)
This date occurs only every four years, in years evenly divisible by 4. A century year which ends in two zeros (1800, 1900, 2000, etc), is not a leap year unless it is also evenly divisible by 400. The concepts of the leap year and 'leap day' are distinct from the leap second, which is necessitated by changes in the Earth's rotational speed.
Remembering Frederic
A person born on 29 February is known as a "leapling." Contrary to a character named Frederic, from the Gilbert & Sullivan musical The Pirates of Penzance, who was apprenticed to a band of pirates until his 21st birthday, and released after living 88 calendar years, leaplings in real life can celebrate an annual birthday either 28 February or 1 March during non-leap years. For legal purposes, most countries have specifications to allow February 28 the legal birthday for leaplings, such as when the person turns 18.
The Sapper's Candle
The La Bougie du Sapeur (The Sapper's Candle) is a humorous French newspaper, first published in 1980, and is the world's only "daily" to appear only once every four years, on 29 February. Named after a French comic strip character who was born on 29 February 1844, this unique publication, which issues over 200 thousand copies, is considered an exceptional newspaper devoted to political and social satire.
(If anyone from France is out there and can offer more enlightenment on this, it would be greatly appreciated.)
Interesting things that happened on other Leap Days...
1504 Christopher Columbus uses his knowledge of a lunar eclipse that night to convince Native Americans to provide him with supplies
1916 In South Carolina, the minimum working age for factory, mill, and mine workers is raised from twelve to fourteen years old
1932 TIME magazine features eccentric American politician William "Alfalfa" Murray on its cover after Murray stated his intention to run for President of the United States read the story
1940 For her role as Mammy in Gone with the Wind, Hattie McDaniel becomes the 1st African American to win an Academy Award read about Hattie
1960 1st Playboy Club, featuring bunnies, opens in Chicago
1964 North Carolina high school basketball teams play to 56-54 score in 13 overtimes
Information gathered from Dwarf Designs Online.
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