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02/29/2004: "Why the calendar doesn't say March 1 today"

Our solar year (the time required for Earth to travel once around the Sun) is 365.24219 days. So, a leap year every four years to make up for that .242 of a day. The Gregorian calendar (which is what we use today, much more accurate than the old Roman calendar), calculates a year as 365.2425 days, which is only off from our solar year by .00031, which amounts to only one day’s error after 4,000 years. Not horrible, really, but a selfish calendar -- it was concocted in 1582 after Pope Gregory XIII recognized Easter and Christmas were creeping closer and closer together. But if you're 21st birthday fell on February 29th and it wasn't a leap year, you'd have to wait until March 1 to drink. Bummer, I guess. Good thing my birthday is on the 27th -- whew! Curious about stuff that happened on leap years in past years? My favorite was in 1288, where Scotland established this is the day a woman could propose marriage to a man, and if he refused, had to pay a fine.