We proposed our own question, asking folks how they would spend a perfect, extra 24 hours.
With an extra day, I know I'd want to go thrift store shopping at all my favorite spots around town, but as the mother of two small kids, I have to be real and say that I'd also work in a nice long nap too!
– Anna Hehman,
Cincinnati Observatory
I’m in a French Book Club so I’m reading a novel in French, La Voiture Rouge. haven’t read a novel in French since college days! I’m going to use Leap Day to finish reading it which means looking up almost every other word in the dictionary. It’s slow going but so worth it.
– Mindy Rosen,
Friends of Music Hall
I would love to spend the whole day with my daughter exploring Cincinnati icons!
#activeparenting=mentorship
–Amy Thompson,
Cincinnati Youth Collaborative
I would spend the day celebrating the 20th anniversary of Saturday Hoops by serving others, playing knockout, and soliciting donations to propel our mentoring program into the next 20 years.
–Adam Turer,
Saturday Hoops
Of all the occurrences that happen every four years some are truly better than others. In 2024, before we enjoy an Olympics and dread a presidential election, we can first celebrate Leap Day!
That’s right, we get a whole extra 24 hours this year!
“As we all know, our widely accepted calendar has 365 days in it, which represents one year, and one Earthly orbit of the Sun,” explains Anna Hehman, executive director of the Cincinnati Observatory. “However the solar calendar actually has 365.2422 days in it, meaning that's how long it takes for us to actually complete one orbit of the sun. To keep us in line with this solar calendar, roughly every four years we have a Leap Day to account for the .2422 days we leave off of our Gregorian calendar system.”
With all of the complicated math, quadrennial rareness, and Roman intrigue, certain unusual traditions developed around Leap Day. For some reason, any of those include women proposing to men. (Imagine!)
That tradition is strongest in Ireland. According to folklore, St. Bridget asked St. Patrick for women to have the chance to ask men to marry them. But only on Feb. 29, which became known as “Bachelor’s (but not for much longer) Day.”
That’s likely what inspired the Amy Adams film Leap Year, which you may have watched on a plane at some point because of the lovely scenery and cast that also includes Matthew Goode and Adam Scott.
Irish monks took the tradition to Scotland where it allegedly became a law in 1288, allowing women to propose during leap years, but they had to wear a red petticoat while proposing and that refusals would result in a fine. (Which could be a kiss, a silk dress or gloves, all pretty un-bloodthirsty for the 13th century.)
Of course this reversal of gender roles has led to some confusion with Sadie Hawkin’s Day. But that’s Nov. 13 EVERY year.
The pseudo-holiday of Sadie Hawkins Day originated in Li'l Abner in November 1937, but soon inspired real life events, with more than 200 colleges holding Sadie Hawkins Day festvities in 1939. Eventually Li'l Abner creator Al Capp set the date for Sadie Hawkins Day as Nov. 26, in his last daily strip on Nov. 5, 1977. (That’s right Li’l Abner ended the year Star Wars came out.)
Of course, there is a REAL Leap Day character. In 2012, 30 Rock unveiled Leap Day William, a gilled creature who lives in the Mariana Trench and trades candy for children’s tears. The “lesson” from this Christmas Carol-like episode is that people should remember the magic of Leap Day all year long!
From Julius Caesar to Pope Gregory XIII, Leap Day has been better codified. Though there are exceptions – in “century” years not evenly divisible by 400 leap days were skipped (1700 and 1900), Hehman explains. f
“It’s a bit convoluted, but it works,” she says.
Just like Leap Day Wiilliam!
Header image: Shae Huth