ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Saturday is Leap Day.
Every four years we get an extra day to balance out the calendar.
If we didn't, every 360 years December would slide into summer.
When the earth travels around the sun once, that is technically one year, which is not exactly 365 days.
It’s exactly 365.2422 days.
Which over the years could add up.
You know what else is adding up, traditions, superstitions, and weird history related to Leap Day.
Here’s a few:
Time magazine reports Women in Aurora, Illinois arrested men for being single on Leap Day in 1948.
Babies born on Leap Day immediately become members of an exclusive club.
Anthony, Texas made itself the "leap year capital of the world" because it celebrates Leap Year babies with a big party every year.
In Ireland and other European countries, women can propose to men on Leap Day.
It's believed it was introduced to balance the traditional roles of men and women similar to how leap day balances the calendar.
In Denmark, if a man refuses a proposal, he must buy the woman 12 gloves.
In Finland, the penalty for a proposal refusal was enough fabric for the woman to make a skirt.
In Germany, girls leave a tree decorated with ribbons at the home of their crush.
In Taiwan, A married daughter is expected to bring pig trotter noodles to her parents.
In Scotland, it used to be considered unlucky for someone to be born on leap day, just as Friday 13th is considered an unlucky day by many. Greeks consider it unlucky for couples to marry during a leap year, and especially on Leap Day.
According to NPR, there's a newspaper in France that only gets published once every leap year. It sells about 150,000 copies.
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