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 START OF THE LEAP YEAR 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 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. 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 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.
3 PODCASTS TO BINGE ON YOUR COMMUTE
Whether it’s a Red Line ride down to the Daley Center or a drive from my house in Lincoln Park to our office, I commute to work every morning. To pass the time, I often listen to podcasts. Now it seems like almost everyone has one. It can be hard to hack your way through the podcast jungle to find one that’s right for you. This month, I’ve decided to share three of my favorites. Hopefully, you can find some time on a morning commute or a family road trip to check them out. ‘HOW I BUILT THIS’ WITH GUY RAZ “How I Built This” showcases the stories of some of America’s greatest entrepreneurs and dreamers. In every episode, NPR’s Guy Raz interviews the founders of companies like Airbnb, Five Guys, Home Depot, and others. No matter the industry or era in which these companies were founded, almost every founder went through seemingly insurmountable adversity in building their dream. Every time I listen to an episode, I’m able to take away some nugget of useful information or inspiration. Even if you don’t have the entrepreneurial spirit, you can’t help but be motivated to pursue your dreams after listening to this one. ‘CONAN NEEDS A FRIEND’ “Conan Needs a Friend” is the new podcast from long-time late-night host Conan O’Brien. If you like Conan’s brand of self-deprecating humor, you will enjoy his podcast and his interviews. As Conan explains in the introduction to each episode, he’s been so busy with his late-night shows over the
last 25-plus years that he hasn’t had time to make deep friendships with people outside of his talk show bubble. Now he’s making up for lost time by interviewing people he’s had on his show over the years to determine if there’s a possibility of a friendship developing. The podcast has Conan’s trademark goofiness, but he is able to be more authentic and discuss his personal life more than the networks allowed. Since the show’s still new, there are not a ton of episodes yet, but as someone who’s liked Conan since I was a kid, this podcast is a must-listen for me. ‘REVISIONIST HISTORY’ WITH MALCOLM GLADWELL “Revisionist History” is a podcast by author Malcolm Gladwell, who is a writer for The New Yorker. I’ve only listened to a couple of episodes, but it comes highly recommended by my wife and both of my parents. On “Revisionist History,” Gladwell takes some person or event from history and re-examines them. Typically, he uses a historic figure or event to discuss a sociological or psychological theme. For example, the most recent episode I listened to was about news anchor Brian Williams’ fall from grace after misreporting his experience covering the Iraq War. Gladwell used that story to analyze the unreliability of human memory. That episode is just one of the dozens of interesting episodes from this highly recommended podcast.
Happy Listening.
–Pat Cummings
2 www.shannonlawgroup.com
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