LEAP YEAR FACTS

As I write this on February 29, 2012, leap year comes to mind.  When and where did it originate?  Julius Caesar, Emperor of Rome, b. 100 B.C. – d. 44 B.C., is credited with introducing a calendar in 46 B.C. based on a year of 365 ¼ days.  By 1582, Pope Gregory XIII put the world on a more organized basis with the Gregorian calendar which designated every fourth year as “leap year” in which the four accumulated ¼ days were used to create one extra day, February 29.  Just think, if one were born on February 29 of a leap year, one would have an official birthday every four years---hmmm---at a certain age, that might be an advantage!!   : )     : )     : )