This week’s newspaper is a very special edition.
For one thing, along with the articles on local issues, people, and sports, this week’s paper also includes our special “Things We Love” section highlighting just a few of the reasons we love our community.
But even beyond that, this week’s paper is extra special simply because of the date on which it is being published, as February 29 is a day that doesn’t always exist. In the roughly 130-year history of the Green River Star, the newspaper has been published on Leap Day only a handful of times.
The last time the Star was published on Leap Day was 12 years ago when the paper came out February 29, 2012, which was during a time period when the paper was published on Wednesdays. At that point, it had been 15 years since the paper had last come out on Leap Day, going back to February 29, 1996. This date, 28 years ago now, was also the last time Leap Day fell on a Thursday.
If the Star continues to publish every Thursday, the next Leap Day paper will be in another 28 years, coming out February 29, 2052.
With a weekly newspaper that only publishes on a certain day of the week, the odds of publishing on Leap Day are clearly pretty slim, making this edition stand out. Leap Day is also responsible for the fact that we’ll have published five papers this February, which hardly ever happens.
Realizing how rare it is for our newspaper to publish on Leap Day got us thinking about this unique day and how it works. Most people understand that Leap Day occurs every four years (which isn’t exactly true, but it’s close), when February gets an extra day, making our calendar year one day longer. But most people also may not fully understand or be able to explain why this is necessary.
In short, we have a 365-day calendar because it takes the earth 365 days to orbit the sun. But to be more precise, it takes the earth 365.242190 days to orbit the sun, or 365 days 5 hours 48 minutes and 56 seconds. Over time, those extra hours and minutes add up and need to be accounted for. Without taking that extra time into account, seasons would start to drift, and after several hundred years we would end up with summer in the time of year we expect to be winter.
Adding an extra day to the calendar year helps make up for that extra time and keep things balanced. But it also adds an extra 44 minutes to the year, which could also cause seasons to start drifting over time. That’s why leap year isn’t exactly every four years, and leap years are skipped every so often. But for most of us, this won’t be in our lifetime. The last time leap year was skipped was in 1900, and the next time it will be skipped is 2100.
The history of using leap days, years, or months goes back centuries and can be seen in many past civilizations and calendars, including Egyptian, Hebrew, and Chinese. Julius Caesar introduced the Julian calendar in 45 B.C., which included an extra day every year, but created an overcorrection by about eight days each millennium. Pope Gregory XIII stepped in to adjust things again in the 16th century with the Gregorian Calendar, which is the calendar used in the majority of the world today.
(Some of this information came from the articles “The Science of Leap Year” by Bob Craddock for the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum website and “Why do we leap day? We remind you (so you can forget for another 4 years)” by Rachel Treisman for NPR, which are worth a read for even more details.)
As we add this day to our calendars this year and recognize the significance it gives this edition of the newspaper, we hope that it will also be a chance for all of us to think about how unique time is, and to reflect on how we’re spending the time we’re given.
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