What's a Leapling? Fun Facts for Leap Day

Ever wonder what is the deal with Feb. 29? Some look at this "extra" day as a gift, others a curse. 

A leap year comes approximately every four years. The reason for this extra day is because most calendars are based on the assumption that there are 365 days in a year when in fact, there are actually 365 and one-quarter days in a year. In order to keep our modern Gregorian calendar in sync with the tropical calendar we add an extra day to February every four years.

Here are several interesting facts about this day you may not know:

• No year that is divisible by 100 can be a leap year unless it can be divided by 400. The year 2000 was a leap year, while the year 1900 was not.
• Leap year babies born in the year 1884 did not celebrate a single birthday on their actual birth date throughout their teenage years. Feb. 29 fell on the year those individuals turned 12.
• The tradition of women proposing to men on leap year day dates all the way back to fifth century Ireland.
• People born on Feb. 29 are all invited to join the Honor Society of Leap Year Day Babies.
• According to the Guinness Book of Records, there are world record holders both of a family producing three consecutive generations born on Feb. 29 and of the number of children born on Feb. 29 in the same family.
• People born on leap year’s day are called leaplings.
• The chances of having a leap year birthday are 1 in 1,461.
• In Greece it’s said to be unlucky for couples to marry during a leap year, and especially on Leap Day.

Do you have more fun facts? Were you born on Leap Day? Share your story and facts in the comments section below.