leap(years)

Thirty days hath September,
April, June and November;
All the rest have thirty-one
Save February, she alone
Hath eight days and a score
Til leap year gives her one day more.

have you ever wondered why there are leap years?? or how does it come about?? why do we need it?? when do leap years occur?? here's why......

im sure most of you know what is a leap year... a leap year is a year whereby february has 29 days instead of 28 days... (and i know of people born on 29th feb... poor things..) so why is there a need for such an addition every four years??


the simple reason is this... all of us know that in one year we have 365 days... which means 365 days is needed for the earth to make one complete round around the sun... but in actual fact, it takes the earth 365.2422 days to complete one orbit around the sun.. hence, 1 year is almost 365 1/4 days.. since we follow the gregorian calender of 365 days, it means that every year we count approximately 1/4 day shorter... hence... every 4 years, we have to put back 1 day in february... TADA!!

but wait...!!! people will then ask, 365.2422 days is not equals to 365 1/4 days... there is a small difference of 0.0078 days.. but isnt the difference so insignificant?? though its small its not!! because in 125 years time, this signifance could add up to almost a day.. hence every 100 years, it is not a leap year... but every 400 years it is... so as to make up for the small difference... which we would still lose a few seconds a year.. if at this point you are really confused, just follow these rules of application...

1. every year divisible by 4 is a leap year (1968, 1972, 1984)
2. but every year divisible by 100 is NOT a leap year (1700, 1800, 1900)
3. unless the year is divisible by 400 then its still a leap year (1600, 2000, 2400)


so is there a perfect calender??? the answer is no... even if we can calculate a calender according to 365.2422 days a year, it still will not be perfectly accurate because the orbit of the earth around the sun is also influenced by other planets... well... nothing is perfect anyway... except God's love...

so now you know... =]

And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years...
Genesis 1:14