The year 2020 is a leap year and Google Doodle today is celebrating Leap Day that occurs every four years. Leap Day is an extra day – February 29th – added every four years to the calendar. It also helps keep calendars in alignment with the Earth and sun.
A leap day occurs in years that are multiples of four or can be evenly divided by 400. The date — February 29 — is added to most years that are divisible by 4, such as 2016, 2020, and 2024.
After four years, the year 2020 has come with that one extra day in February, taking the calendar from 365 days in a year to 366. This extra day is what we call “Leap Day”.
Leap day is observed when the Earth’s revolution around the Sun takes approximately six hours longer than 365 whole days.
A leap day is added in various solar calendars (calendars based on the Earth’s revolution around the Sun), including the Gregorian calendar standard in most of the world. Lunisolar calendars (months based on the phases of the Moon) instead add a leap or intercalary month.
Considering that Leap Day comes ones every four years, people across the globe observe the day with quirky traditions, folklore and superstitions.
Any person born on a leap day is known as “leapling”. The Guinness Book of Records states that there are Leap Day World Record Holders both of same family producing three consecutive generations born on February 29.
According to folklore, in a leap year, the weather always changes on Friday.
