When is the next leap year you ask? First of all, you need to ask, ‘why is every four years a leap year?’ Simple. It’s because of the Olympics. Okay, not really. Why we need to add a February 29th every four years is simple. Our calendar is totally lined up with the earth’s orbit around the sun. Every year it actually takes 365.25 days for the earth to orbit around the sun. Add four years and that would equal an extra day. Therefore if we didn’t have a leap year every four years, eventually February could be in the middle of Spring, Summer, or Fall. 25 days different every 100 years. And just who added the leap day every four years? An Astronomer first brought his findings up to Roman Emperor Julius Caesar – yes the guy they named the drink after – in 46 BC. In 1582 Pope Gregory XIII revised Julius Caesar’s calendar – named the Julien Calendar – along with a German Astronomer and came up with what we use today: The Gregorian Calendar adds a leap year every four years also. And if I continue to explain why my head will explode and i will die. So I will stop now.

Oh, and the next time we get in February 29th is two years from now, in 2020. 

Neil 

@neiltalks