February 29 it is only present in the calendar once every 4 years and this is due to a simple arithmetic and astrological calculation which nevertheless fueled beliefs, customs and superstitions.
The origins
In ancient times, counting time referred to the progression of the seasons and the sky. Then the Romans, in 46 BC, introduced the Julian calendar which had 365.25 days. The 0.25 left aside was added to arrive at the additional day which therefore appeared every 4 years. Since astronomers established that the solar year is 365.242 days, following the calculation desired by Julius Caesar, it was possible to give cyclicity to the events linked to the movement of the Earth's orbit.
What does a leap year mean?
The Romans defined “sextile” from the sixth to the last day of February before the start of March. So February 24th. When an extra day was added every four years, it was called a leap, that is, the second sixth, or bisest, from the Latin expression “bis sexto die.”
The Anglo-Saxon version
In English, leap year is called “Leap year”, that is to say the leap year. According to an Irish belief, a traditionally Catholic country, February 29 is “Bachelor's Day” or the day on which it is exceptionally authorized. women propose to a man and in Anglo-Saxon countries on this particular day it is generally a good omen, while elsewhere it is considered a “bad” year.
Superstitions and misfortunes
Already there 1400 Savonarola convinces the population that leap years bring bad luck to herds and crops, but in addition to beliefs based on ideas without any scientific basis and popular sayings such as “leap year, fatal year“Unfortunately, history teaches us that some very negative events occurred precisely during leap years and therefore superstitious people fueled their beliefs: the Messina earthquake of 1908; the 1968 Belice earthquake; that of Friuli in 1976; the 2004 tsunami in Japan; the health emergency linked to Coronavirus in 2020.
Name day February 29
Although it is only celebrated once every four years, February 29 still has a few reference saints: Christian tradition celebrates Saint Hilary; Blessed Antonia of Florence; St. Oswald; Saint Augustus Chapdelaine.
Birthday: February 29
When do we celebrate people born on February 29? It probably depends on your own sensitivity decide to bring it forward to March 28 or postpone it to March 1, but there are also clubs and associations which bring together people born on this date and perhaps even currents of thought on the subject. You should ask one of the approximately 4.1 million people currently in the world born that day.
