Google celebrates Leap Day with a doodle

NEW DELHI: Google on Saturday celebrated the

Leap Day

with a doodle.


Leap Day occurs once every four years on 29th day of February to keep our calendars in alignment with the Earth and Sun.

The Earth's revolution around the Sun takes approximately six hours longer than 365 whole days. An extra day (6X4=24 hours),

February 29

, is added after four years to compensate for this lag. Thus realigning the calendar with the Earth's position in the Solar System.

Another easy way to understand the marking of the leap year would be to take note of the day your birthday befalls. If your birthday fell on a Monday during a normal year and the following year was a Leap Year, your birthday the following year would fall on a Wednesday instead of a Tuesday.

A fun fact around that, people born on a

leap year day

are often called 'leaplings' or 'leapers'.

Going back in history, it was Romans who first designated February 29 as the leap day.

Some historical events that have happened during leap years include the Battle of Little Bighorn in 1876 fought by George Armstrong Custer, a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War.

The Titanic sank in 1912, and it is in the leap year of 1752 that Benjamin Franklin discovered electricity.

Some notable folks born on February 29 are Olympic swimmer Cullen Jones, actor Antonio Sabato Jr, Rapper Ja Rule and poet/rapper Saul Williams.

Think before you leap with any discovery, if done, the day could be celebrated only once in four years!

(With inputs from agencies)

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