If we could just get everyone to push on the ground at the same time in the direction of Earth's orbit we could speed that orbit and get rid of that pesky extra quarter of a day per year. Phew, OK, now does anything else need solving?
June 31st--New Leap Day?!
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OP
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Nope, not analogous.
Try this:
There is a wall at an art gallery displaying 20 works of art. Each painting is approximately 12" X 12". The paintings are arranged on the wall in a grid of five horizontal rows and four columns. You are a struggling artist trying to get recognized. You notice that your five paintings are showing in the bottom row which is about knee high. You realize that is not a very desirable position for your paintings to get properly seen.
If only your paintings were on the top row or the second row! That way people's eyes would be naturally drawn to your paintings. The positioning of your paintings in the top or second row would be far more pleasing to you then having them positioned in the bottom row.
Likewise, for me, if an extra day is going to be placed into a year I'd prefer to be in the summer than in the winter, because that would be much more pleasing to me.
jimbee
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Never mind.
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OP
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What was last Thursday, February 29, if not an extra day?
jimbee
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The 29th day for this year labeled February to keep the calendar synced with the seasons. The actual day is the same whether you call it Feb 29 or Mar 1. Moving the leap day to another month doesn't actually change the days in a given season, it changes how they're labeled in the calendar. It doesn't make winter longer. A leap day doesn't add an actual day anymore than daylight saving time adds or subtracts an actual hour.
Andre1969
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It won't change the amount of days in a season, but it would make what I always think of as "unofficial summer" (June/July/August) one day longer. However, from a kid's summer vacation point of view, it probably makes no difference. The extra day might make Labor Day fall a week later. For instance, if Labor Day is September 1, that day would now be August 31, because of the extra day, and Labor Day would then be September 7, giving an extra week.
However, in that instance Labor Day gets shifted back a week whether you stick that extra day in February, June, or any month before September. And not all schools start up the day after Labor Day. If it falls early enough, like September1 or 2 they might, but if it falls too late, then they start back the week earlier, meaning late August. And on those years (whether it's a leap year or not) with a late Labor Day, I'm sure they adjust the start of summer vacation accordingly.
Anyway, I don't think there's really any reason that Leap Day HAS to be in February. The Earth rotates around the Sun roughly once every 365 1/4 days, so they have to throw in that extra day to correct it somewhere. They probably just stuck it in February, since that's the shortest month anyway.
The length of the months is somewhat arbitrary, anyway. I think at one time, they were all either 29 or 31 days, simply because an even number (like 30) was considered unlucky. Still, that left one month with an even number, so they gave that to February and made it a month to celebrate the dead, or something like that.
However, in that instance Labor Day gets shifted back a week whether you stick that extra day in February, June, or any month before September. And not all schools start up the day after Labor Day. If it falls early enough, like September1 or 2 they might, but if it falls too late, then they start back the week earlier, meaning late August. And on those years (whether it's a leap year or not) with a late Labor Day, I'm sure they adjust the start of summer vacation accordingly.
Anyway, I don't think there's really any reason that Leap Day HAS to be in February. The Earth rotates around the Sun roughly once every 365 1/4 days, so they have to throw in that extra day to correct it somewhere. They probably just stuck it in February, since that's the shortest month anyway.
The length of the months is somewhat arbitrary, anyway. I think at one time, they were all either 29 or 31 days, simply because an even number (like 30) was considered unlucky. Still, that left one month with an even number, so they gave that to February and made it a month to celebrate the dead, or something like that.
Andre1969
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Interesting. I wonder if they make that correction, because each year isn't exactly 365.25 days? I think the fraction is something like .2422?
So, adding one day every 4 years, while it mostly balances things, still doesn't quite do it, as it actually puts us ever so slightly ahead, rather than behind.
No leap year in years ending in 00.....unless it's divisible by 400. Remember this in 376 years.
Out-to-Lunch
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When I read your OP, I thought it was a clever jape along the lines of what Chuckanut posted. When you posted yesterday, I thought you were just playing it out for more grins.
When I was in the logistics racket in the military, we just used a 4-digit "Julian date" for everything.
First digit = last number of the year
Second through fourth digits = numerical day of the year.
So for this year, January 1st was 4001
And today, March 5th, is 4065
and so on. Every four years it would end like 4366 instead of 4365.
Everyone had a cheat sheet at their desk to quickly convert back and forth, so it was never a hassle.
You can sometimes see that sort of date stamped on a food product to show either the production date or the sell-by date. It's really convenient once you get used to it.
First digit = last number of the year
Second through fourth digits = numerical day of the year.
So for this year, January 1st was 4001
And today, March 5th, is 4065
and so on. Every four years it would end like 4366 instead of 4365.
Everyone had a cheat sheet at their desk to quickly convert back and forth, so it was never a hassle.
You can sometimes see that sort of date stamped on a food product to show either the production date or the sell-by date. It's really convenient once you get used to it.
Probably lots of software has not been programmed to handle the 400-year rule, so 2100 will bring about Y2.1K.
Koolau
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Sounds like it might be time to BTD and buy a new blanket. You have our permission to blow the budget on this one.
Sojourner
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I'd MUCH rather the powers that be get rid of Daylight Saving Time (or make DST permanent) than messing with Leap Day. What ever happened to the momentum we seemed to be getting in Congress a year or two ago to finally get rid of this irritating one-hour time switch twice a year?
EDIT: Here's a snippet from an article I found on The Hill website about the current status of the legislation in Congress. Seems to be stuck in committee limbo, for some unfathomable reason.
EDIT: Here's a snippet from an article I found on The Hill website about the current status of the legislation in Congress. Seems to be stuck in committee limbo, for some unfathomable reason.
GalaxyBoy
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I’m retired. I don’t look at calendars unless I have a doctor or dentist appointment.
RunningBum
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Schools generally schedule a set number of days (180 is what I remember), so I don't think Feb 29 causes an extra day, nor would June 31 give an extra day or really throw things off.
Feb 29 does make Feb rent a little more fair.
Or you could just move your bed 6 inches from the wall and not have to modify your blanket at all!
cranberryjoe
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If you want to celebrate leap day during the summer, take a late February trip to the southern hemisphere every leap year. Problem solved with no calendar changes required!
i like the lord of the rings hobbit calendar. all months the same length. 4 extra days of no month on solstice/equinox dates. one extra day at year end for parties day after winter solstice. any other fudging to make dates map to solar time invokes dragons.
I recall a sarcastic english essay on the elimination of february and its concommitant weather by distributing those days among months with better weather.
I recall a sarcastic english essay on the elimination of february and its concommitant weather by distributing those days among months with better weather.
Koolau
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Sounds a bit like Lerner-and-Loewe's song "Camelot." Of course, here in the land of Ever-Summer, we don't pay much attention to Feb. 29 or any other day (weather wise.) YMMV
Andre1969
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It's interesting, how the mind can distort the perception of time. This past February, for some reason, seemed like a good, long month. But now all of a sudden I blink, and we're half way through March!
