Altitude Physical Therapy - February 2019

PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID BOISE, ID PERMIT 411

1906 Fairview Ave., Ste. 410 Caldwell, ID 83605

208-454-9839 www.altitudept.com

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

1 2 2 3 3 4

The Value of an Education Why Parents Should Play Video Games Meet Our PTA, Dan! Strategies for Relieving Your Back Pain Spicy Salmon Tartare Why Do We Need a Leap Year?

WHY DO WE NEED A LEAP YEAR?

THE CALCULATIONS THAT LEAVE US IN NEED OF AN EXTRA DAY

Every four years, February gains an extra day at the end of the month. But what does this contribute to the year as a whole? You might be surprised by what this one day does for us! The 365 days in each year represent the time it takes for the Earth to circle the sun. However, the orbit actually takes nearly a quarter of a day longer than that. The additional 0.2421 of a day might not seem like it would make a significant impact, but after a few decades, it adds up. To ensure the calendar and seasons stay on the right timeline, the leap day was created. The Egyptians were the first to officially calculate how many days it takes to orbit the sun, revealing the need for a leap year. Europeans at the time used a calendar that followed a lunar model, which needed an entire month added to retain consistency. The leap year wasn’t introduced into Europe until the reign of Julius Caesar. With the THE START OF THE LEAP YEAR

help of astronomer Sosigenes, Caesar created the Julian Calendar, which included 12 months and 365 days, with a single day added every fourth year. However, the Julian Calendar wasn’t perfect, because 0.2421 of a day can’t be rounded to a multiple of five, so it caused the calendar to have an extra 11 minutes every four years. Pope Gregory XIII fixed the problem in 1582 by creating the Gregorian Calendar. Now, a leap year occurs every four years except for the years that are evenly divisible by 100 and not 400. For instance, 1800 and 1900 were not leap years because they were divisible by 100.

receive their driver’s license. Although it varies from state to state, most consider March 1 the appropriate day for leap-year 16-year-olds — who are celebrating their fourth “official” birthday — to receive their license. With all the changes the calendar has undergone, it still isn’t quite perfect. Experts say that in about 10,000 years, it will need to be changed yet again.

A LEAP DAY BIRTHDAY

The odds of being born on Feb. 29 are about 1 in 1,500, which leaves approximately 187,000 people in the U.S. and 4 million people around the world celebrating their birthdays on Feb. 28 or March 1. People born on a Leap Day are faced with dilemmas such as which date they should

www.altitudept.com 4

Made with FlippingBook Learn more on our blog