How many days are in two leap years. Interesting facts and signs about a leap year

A leap year, or it is also called the word "leap year", causes a lot of rumors and superstitions, which boil down mainly to the fact that this year is unhappy and promises only one negative event. In this article, we will discuss how true these opinions are.

A bit of history

The word "leap" came to us from the Latin language, that is, it ancient origin, and its literal translation sounds like "second sixth".

According to the Julian calendar, the Earth goes through its cycle in 365.25 days, while every year the day shifted by 6 hours. Such an error could well confuse ancient men, and in order to avoid this, it was decided that after every fourth year another day would be added to the annual circle. Accordingly, this year will include 366 days, and they will be added in the shortest month - February, it will consist of 29 days. For distinction, he was called a leap.

On the Ancient Russia, in turn, there were many legends about the emergence of leap years, and each of them was already perceived as necessarily unlucky. The legends about the arrival of the new calendar and the leap year in it in Russia were also reflected in the Saints. So, February 29 is dedicated to the memory of St. Kasyan, and among the people he is called Kasyanov Day. Several legends and apocrypha are dedicated to this day (stories that are not recognized by the church as confirmed and consistent with what we know about God). But it sheds light on the origin of the bad reputation of the leaps.

According to this legend, Kasyan appears to the common people not as a man, but as an angel, moreover, a fallen one, who was once tempted by Satan, as a result of which he fell away from God. However, in the future, he realized how wrong he was, repented and begged the Creator for mercy. Taking pity on the traitor, God, before taking him back, put His angel to him. The celestial shackled Kasyan and, by order from above, beat him on the forehead with a metal hammer for admonition for 3 years, and released him on the fourth.

The second legend about Kasyan

According to the second story Kasyan- this is a person, and Kasyanov's day is the date of his name day. However, according to the legend, that man systematically drunk dead for three years in a row, but on the fourth he came to his senses, brought repentance, gave up addiction, turned to repentance and became a saint - he acquired the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the people considered, it is fitting for them to celebrate their day so rarely - only on February 29th.

The third legend about Kasyan

This legend is dedicated to St. Kasyan traveling the earth and Nicholas the Wonderworker, well known to Christians. And then they meet a man along the way. He asked them for help as his wagon became bogged down in the mud. Kasyan replied to this that he was careful not to spoil his clean riza, and Nikolai, not afraid of dirt, immediately helped. The saints returned to the Kingdom of God, and the Creator noticed that Nikolai's robe was dirty and asked him what it was about.

The Saint told him what had happened on the way. Then the Lord noticed that Kasyan's clothes were clean, and asked the question: did they not travel together? Kasyan replied that he was afraid to stain his clothes. God understood that Cosmas was cunning, and arranged in such a way that his name day is celebrated with him once every 4 years. And Nikolai's namesake for his meekness - twice in 365 days.

Anyway , whatever it may be, the leap was recognized as bad. Therefore, the Russian superstitious people tried to somehow protect themselves from this day.

1. I tried to finish all the important things before the 29th of February.
2. Some did not dare to leave the house.
3. On February 29, if the sun came out, it was called Kasyan's Eye or Kasyanov's Eye. Then they tried not to fall under the sun, so that the saint would not… jinx them! And he did not bring suffering and disease to the poor person.

As in old times, in today's world, superstitions and signs that are not with better side determine the leap years of the 21st century. We list some of them:

Why is a leap year considered bad?

Such an attitude is quite understandable: the appearance of the 29th day in February characterizes the whole year differently from others, psychologically distinguishes it from among the others. This can be important for a person who is unsure of their abilities. It will be much easier for him, referring to this special period, to refuse something new than to expend energy for self-development or the start of some business.

For the same reason, it will be easier not to get pregnant, so as not to give birth later, because the fear that the birth will be difficult increases, the baby may be born painful. And if not, then suddenly his life will be bleak or hard.

See our resourceful people and the threat in the very name of the leap year, saying that it “mows down” people, in other words, takes them away, leads to death. Therefore, the holiday is met with apprehension (or, conversely, on a special scale - you never know who will die ...). This is a very common belief that tries to infiltrate the statistics. It is becoming accepted that the death rate increases every 4th year. At the same time, the statistics themselves do not confirm these data in any way.

Mushrooms can not be collected either, and even more so they can be eaten or sold to people. No, not so as not to get poisoned, but so that with the “bad earth” a person does not get “something bad”.

It is believed that a leap year entails cataclysms in nature and all sorts of disasters: drought, floods, fires.

What years are leap years

In the last century, as well as in the present, such calendar periods also terrified. A list of them can be seen in the image or found on the Internet. Also, the year 2000, the same millennium, in turn was a leap year, opening a whole millennium.

Despite the fact that with the development of technology, information has become more accessible and it has become possible to learn more and expand one's horizons, getting rid of primitive fears, many continue to anxiously expect a leap year, internally setting themselves up for problems and troubles, and when they come (if they come), this is perceived as doomed: well, it's a leap year... An extra day in February. Deadly!

There are special calendars that indicate exactly when the leap year occurs. It is enough to carefully look at the table and find (or not find) the actual numbers there. It is enough to know at least one leap year, after which, through elementary arithmetic, it will be possible to calculate them yourself. Let's say you're interested in leap years in the 21st century. Find a calendar and view it. Knowing that 2016 is a leap year, it is easy to understand that the next one will come in 2020.

If you trust the statistics, a very small number of all catastrophes and misfortunes falls on leap years. The superstitions that exist today can be interpreted by the fact that people who were closely following the misfortunes and misfortunes that occurred at leap years, communicated an exaggerated meaning to what was happening only because of the unflattering reputation of the latter. Persons who extremely trust superstitions about leap years would like to wish to pay more attention to positive events and changes. And then, perhaps, there will be a list of good and joyful signs restoring the reputation of the leaps.

When making plans for the future, even the most skeptical person is in a hurry to find out whether the coming year will be a leap year or not? This topic is especially relevant when important events, because it is believed that the time period in which one extra day is added does not bode well. Looking ahead, let's say that in 2020 there will be exactly 366 days. And this means that by folk omens not the most the best time for change.

Why does a leap year have 366 days?

Everyone knows that in ordinary years the number of days is 365 - it is during this time that the Earth revolves around the Sun. In fact, these data are not entirely accurate. Our planet makes a full revolution in 365 days and 6 hours. These surpluses accumulate over the course of three years, and by the fourth year they add up to a separate day. Such a chronology has gone since the reign of Julius Caesar. Initially, an extra day was inserted after February 24th. It turned out that in the last month of winter there were two 24ths. Among the Romans, this day was designated by the word "bissextilis", which in translation into Russian means "leaping". Soon, due to confusion in the days, it was decided to move the extra day to the end of the month. So it appeared on February 29th.

How to know if it's a leap year or not

You can determine how many days in February 2020 and understand whether a year is a leap year yourself if you know that:

1. A leap year is always an even year. The ordinal number of the year must be divisible by 4 without a remainder. Divide 2020 by 4 to get 505, an integer with no remainder. This means that in February there will be not 28, but 29 days and the year should be considered a leap year.
2. Today, in most countries, including Russia, there are more than accurate calendar- Gregorian. According to his rules, the numerical value of those years that end in zeros should be divided by 400. If the result is a number without a remainder, then the year is a leap year. For example, the last leap year was in 2000: 2000:400=5. But 2100 will not be a leap year, since 2100:400=5.25 (a number with a remainder) and there will be only 28 days in February.

A bit of mysticism

Many superstitious people are anxiously waiting for 2020. According to popular beliefs, a period in which there is one extra day brings troubles and misfortunes, and any undertaking will collapse.

From time immemorial, Saint Kasyan, whose birthday fell on February 29, was blamed for all the "mortal sins" that occur in a leap year. However, not everyone recognized him as a saint. In Russian folk beliefs the image of Kasyan is negative. He was credited with demonic features, called Miserly, Malevolent, Resentful, Envious. And all because during his lifetime this same Kasyan behaved impiously and was objectionable to the Almighty. Kasyan's birthday, namely February 29, was considered the most dangerous, demonic day.

Since the number of days in 2020 is 366 days, at this time it is better to refrain from:

• marriage;
• repair;
• moving;
• bath construction;
• opening a business;
• investments;
• job change.

Skeptics, in turn, argue that nothing depends on the number of days in a year. The natural appearance of the day on February 29 has a scientific evidence base. Leap year is pure math and nothing else.

What will 2020 be like

There is very little left before the new year 2020. For many, 2020 will be a good year. First of all, this applies to those who finally wait for their birthday - February 29th. Astrologers say that the "leapers" are endowed with special talents. These extraordinary people with out-of-the-box thinking will be more successful than ever in “their year”.

But fate will not only favor them. January 25, 2020 according to Eastern calendar the year of the White Metal Rat will come. In the Middle Kingdom, this animal is the God of Happiness, a symbol material well-being. For people who were born in the year of the Rat, this time will be extremely favorable.

People born under other signs Chinese horoscope, in 2020 can increase their chances of success by resorting to lunar calendar. It can be used to select auspicious days to plan important things. There will be many such days in May (from the 1st to the 6th, then on May 13, 14, 20, 27 and 28). May 13 will be one of the most favorable. On this day, you can engage in holding important meetings, organizing celebrations. Some even take the risk of starting a new business project, and, by the way, will not lose.

With the help of such calendars, as well as astrological forecasts, you can determine how many days the grace period will last, and on which days it is better to postpone the decision of important matters.

sharky:
03/25/2013 at 16:04

and why is 1900 not a leap year? A leap year occurs every 4 years, i.e. Divisible by 4, it's a leap year. And no more divisions by 100 or 400.

Asking questions is normal, but before you say something, study the materiel. The earth revolves around the sun in 365 days 5 hours 48 minutes 46 seconds. As you can see, the rest is not exactly 6 hours, but 11 minutes 14 seconds less. This means that by making a leap year we add extra time. Somewhere in 128 years, extra days accumulate. Therefore, every 128 years in one of the 4-year cycles, a leap year is not necessary to get rid of these extra days. But to simplify, a leap year is not made every 100th year. Is the idea clear? Good. But how then to proceed, because an extra day is added every 128 years, and we cut it every 100 years? Yes, we cut off more than it should be, and this must be returned sometime.

If the first paragraph is clear and still interesting, then read on, but it will be more difficult.

So, in 100 years, 100/128=25/32 days of excess time accumulate (this is 18 hours 45 minutes). We do not make a leap year, that is, we subtract one day: we get 25/32-32/32 = -7/32 days (this is 5 hours and 15 minutes), that is, we subtract the excess. After four cycles of 100 years each (after 400 years) we will subtract an extra 4*(-7/32)=-28/32 days (this is minus 21 hours). On the 400th year, we make a leap year, that is, we add a day (24 hours): -28/32+32/32=4/32=1/8 (this is 3 hours).
We make every 4 years a leap year, but at the same time every 100 years is not a leap year and at the same time every 400 years is a leap year, but still every 400 years an extra 3 hours are added. After 8 cycles of 400 years, that is, after 3200 years, an extra 24 hours will accumulate, that is, one day. Then another one is added. required condition: every 3200th year must not be a leap year. 3200 years can be rounded up to 4000, but then again you have to play with added or truncated days.
3200 years have not passed, so this condition, if it is made so, is not yet spoken of. But 400 years have already passed since the approval of the Gregorian calendar.
Years divisible by 400 are always leap years (for now), other years divisible by 100 are not leap years, other years divisible by 4 are leap years.

My calculation shows that in the current state, an error of one day accumulates over 3200 years, but this is what Wikipedia writes about this:
“An error of one day compared to the year of the equinoxes in the Gregorian calendar will accumulate in about 10,000 years (in the Julian - in about 128 years). A frequently encountered estimate, leading to a value of the order of 3000 years, is obtained if we do not take into account that the number of days in a tropical year changes with time and, in addition, the ratio between the lengths of the seasons changes. From the same Wikipedia, the formula for the length of the year in days with fractions paints a good picture:

365,2425=365+0,25-0,01+0,0025=265+1/4-1/100+1/400

The year 1900 was not a leap year, but 2000 was, and special, because such a leap year happens once every 400 years.

In the popular and beloved film “The Same Munchausen”, directed by Mark Zakharov, its main character, Baron Munchausen, played by the wonderful artist Oleg Yankovsky, wanted to give humanity one extra day, which was formed from seconds unaccounted for by compilers of calendars over the millennium. Unfortunately, no one was happy with such a gift, which greatly upset Baron Munchausen.

But, it should be noted that the famous visionary was only partly wrong. It is believed that the year consists of exactly 365 days. Well, in fact, our planet makes its full revolution around the Sun in 365 days and another six hours. There are twenty-four of these unrecorded hours in the calendar in four years. And in order to somehow take them into account, we have one additional day every four years, scheduled for February 29th. A year with 366 days is called a leap year.

Quite often, many people believe in various signs and superstitions associated with the approach of a leap year, and wait for it with apprehension. It is believed that in a leap year you can not pick mushrooms, it is undesirable to build a house and get married. Referring to historical examples, they prepare in advance for various hardships and cataclysms. Such superstitious people would do well to visit some website of a psychologist, because you should not tune in to the horror of the fact that a leap year is still not worth it. We must believe that any year can bring us something good and will be prosperous.

But back to the numbers. It would seem that in a century we can have twenty-five leap years. But years that are divisible by one hundred without a remainder, and at the same time are not divisible by four hundred without a remainder, do not contain an extra day, and are not leap years. This means that in four hundred years extra days they are not a hundred, but only ninety-seven. This can be explained by the fact that our calendar contains a small error. Those unrecorded six hours a year are also an inaccurate sum of unaccounted time. If everything is accurately calculated, then it will be five hours, 49 minutes and 16 seconds. Therefore, unless, of course, the year is divisible by 400 without a remainder, then an extra day is not added to the calendar at the end of the century. The year 2000, for example, was a leap year, because 2000 is divisible by 400 without a remainder, but 2100 will not be a leap year for the reasons indicated above.

Counting the day has always been important to mankind. With their help, they monitor the dates of significant events, determine the calendar change of seasons, the beginning of summer or winter. Many people wonder how many days are in a leap year? Everyone roughly knows that such a year is different from the usual one, but how exactly, and how did such differences appear?

The word leap year itself was formed from the Latin phrase, which translates as "the second sixth." In the common people, such a year is also sometimes called a high year. In addition to the Julian, it also exists in the Gregorian calendar, but there are some differences in them that need to be sorted out.

How did the leap year come about?

The leap year was introduced before our era. Gaius Julius Caesar did this, and the reason that led to such changes was very simple. The calendar for him was created by an Alexandrian scientist named Sosigen. According to his version, one ordinary year was not exactly 365 days, but a little more. Sosigenes' calculations showed an additional six hours.

Thus, according to this calendar, there was a slight shift every year. To eliminate such a factor, Caesar decided to add another day to it. He was supposed to appear every four years, before the start of the next, fifth. At that time, the year ended in February, and therefore an extra day was added to it.

Less than two years after this innovation, Gaius Julius Caesar was killed. Thus, the one who created the leap year, found him only once. The priests, who were supposed to be responsible for the functioning of the calendar, had not yet had time to get used to the new rules, and confusion arose.

Having misunderstood how to count and how to determine which year is a leap year, they began to add an extra day not to every fourth, but to every third year. This went on for more than thirty years, until Emperor Augustus corrected this miscalculation. He had to recalculate many years to cope with the resulting shift, but in the end, leap years became what everyone knows them now.

How many days are in a leap year?

Determining how many days are in a leap year is very simple. It is enough to remember that at such a time one day is added to February. This means that a leap year has 366 days instead of 365. A much more difficult question is to determine which year is a leap year.

Most of the world uses the classic Julian calendar, and it's very easy to use. In this case, the standard rule that all years divisible by four are leap years. But there is also the Gregorian calendar, which is based on the length of the tropical year.

According to this option, there are not 6 extra hours in a year, but 5:48:46. Thus, according to the Gregorian calendar, the year is about 11 minutes shorter than according to the Julian. For a long time, this fact practically did not bother anyone, and leap years were counted in the same way. However, over time, a shift in the day of the vernal equinox began to be observed, which is very important for numerous church holidays. By the sixteenth century, the holiday had shifted by ten days.

In order to correct this, the pope reformed the calendar. All general rules remained, but there was a slight change. Leap years were excluded from those that are multiples of 100. Modern Norm looks like this:

• A year is a leap year if it can be divided into four or four hundred.
• If it can be divided by a hundred, then it is not a leap year.

There is another calendar - the Jewish one. It is very different from the rest, as it is based on lunar month. Nineteen-year cycles account for just under half of leap years. They also add a whole month, not one day. Thus, it is possible to somewhat align the calculus according to the lunar and solar calendar.

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