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You are here: Home / Odds / Why Do We Have Leap Year?

Why Do We Have Leap Year?

March 25, 2020 by Karen Hill

Even though we call 365 days a year, the earth does not revolve around the sun in 365 days. Rather, it takes 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 46 seconds to do this.

The extra time is made up by adding one extra day to the end of February every four years, EXCEPT in those years which can be divided evenly by 100. Then that extra day is NOT added. However, in years divisible by 400, that extra day IS added.

What that means is simply this, the years 1200, 1600, and 2000 are divisible by 400, so they have the extra day added, making them Leap Years. However, 1300, 1400, 1500, 1700, 1800, and 1900 are not divisible by 400, so they were not Leap Years.

Related Facts

  • Where Did the Term "Leap Year" For Every Fourth Year Come From and How Long is a Leap Year?
  • When Does a Leap Year Baby Celebrate His Birthday?
  • What is a Leap Year?
  • Was it John Glenn or Alan Shepard who said, "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind"?
  • Where does the expression "a leap in the dark" come from and What does it mean?
  • How are Thousand-Year-Old Eggs made and Where do Thousand Year Old Eggs come from?

Filed Under: Odds

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

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