General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMy quadra-annual rant against Leap Day in February
Who in the hell decided to make February longer? Of all the months I look forward to ending, this is where we gain an extra day?
I would make the world a better place by making Leap Day the day after July 4th or maybe the day after Labor Day. Put it somewhere that we could use it!
I would also make it a day of no interest on loans and a day that pays time and a half.
Thank you, I will be back in four years with the same rant.
Siwsan
(26,289 posts)Although I'm finding it easier to deal with the later, now that I'm retired.
DST sucks. Makes me tired just thinking about it.
JustABozoOnThisBus
(23,364 posts)Let's get to DST and just stay there.
MontanaMama
(23,337 posts)Count me in.
ornotna
(10,807 posts)But isn't there a day after the 4th already, called the 5th?
randr
(12,414 posts)Like Planetary Peoples Day.
Ms. Toad
(34,087 posts)randr
(12,414 posts)What day does she celebrate her birthday every other year, Feb. 28 or Mar. 1?
(Although on her 21st birthday she probably celebrated on 3/1 since the bars likely would not have served her on the 28th )
randr
(12,414 posts)Ms. Toad
(34,087 posts)randr
(12,414 posts)BComplex
(8,064 posts)Randr, you're awesome.
Hermit-The-Prog
(33,414 posts)January has 31 days. March has 31 days. February is forever shafted. To correct this ongoing discrimination, take a day each from Jan and March, give it to Feb so they're all 30, then every 4 years give February a 31st day just so it can gloat over the others.
randr
(12,414 posts)Cold, wet, windy, cloudy. If I get an extra day once every 4 years, I want it where I can enjoy it.
Wounded Bear
(58,706 posts)Never miss a chance to blame it on the Catholic Church. They have a lot to answer to.
muriel_volestrangler
(101,361 posts)To make matters even more confusing, the decision of when to hold Mercedonius often fell to the consuls, who used their ability to shorten or extend the year to their own political ends. As a result, by the time of Julius Caesar, the Roman year and the solar year were thoroughly out of sync.
The Mercedonius-when-we-feel-like-it system apparently irked Caesar, the general-turned-consul-turned-dictator of Rome who drastically altered the course of European history. In addition to conquering Gaul and transforming Rome from a republic into an empire, Caesar re-ordered the Roman calendar, giving us the blueprint off of which much of the world still operates to this day.
During his time in Egypt, Caesar became convinced of the superiority of the Egyptian solar calendar, which featured 365 days and an occasional intercalary month which was inserted when astronomers observed the correct conditions in the stars. Caesar and the philosopher Sosigenes of Alexandria made one important modification: instead of relying on the stars, they would simply add a day to every fourth year. In keeping with the Roman tradition of messing with the length of February, that day would fall in the second month of the yearthus Leap Day was born. Caesar added two extra-long months to the year 46 BCE to make up for missed intercalations, and the Julian Calendar took effect on January 1st, 45 BCE.
https://www.history.com/news/why-do-we-have-leap-year