And now, a worldwide
leap year birthday club

At the end of February in the leap year, some electronic gadgets go bananas, watches and clocks showing the wrong time and date, and moving to March 1 and not February 29.

Welcome to February 29, the date that people and their machines often forget.

On Tuesday, February 29, 2000, some computers in the high-tech nation of Japan went bonkers.

The Reuters news agency reported problems with 1,200 Automatic Teller Machines located in post offices across Japan which were experiencing "leap-day" malfunctions.

At the Japanese weather office, difficulties with local temperature and precipitation measurements were reported. 

But for those who celebrate their birthday once every four years, February 29 is not all bad news. "Leapers", as they are called, are so happy to finally celebrate their birthday that they have formed a "worldwide leap year birthday club".

At Anthony in Texas, New Mexico, hundreds get together to organise a big bash. This year, the 20-year-old club is holding its fifth birthday party.

Scientists say the leap day in February is the reason for the seasons. Before Julius Caesar proclaimed every fourth year a leap year, calendars were a mess. One could experience their birthdays in different seasons. Today, with a more organised calendar, February 29 is "the reason for the season" because, in a tropical year, it takes the earth 365.24219 days to go round the sun. A 365-day calendar would not be right. Neither would a 366-day calendar. The extra time is taken care of by adding one day to the calendar every four years. 

But scientists say there is no perfect calendar. Calendars go wrong by seconds, minutes, hours or days every year. Timing is so precious in today's world that after some years, people have to adjust their clocks and watches by adding the "leap second".

Strange and interesting events surround this peculiar date.

In 45 BC, Emperor Julius Caesar proclaimed the last day of February a leap day, skipping it three out of four years. In those days, February 30 was the last day of the last month of the year and that is why he picked it. Before that, the Roman calendar had 355 days. In some years, an extra 22-day or 23-day month would be added to the year to keep up with the seasons. In Caesar's time, the seasons kept occurring at different times every year so the emperor intervened.

But the timing still wasn't perfect on the calendar.

In 4 AD, Emperor Caesar Augustus corrected a counting error in leap years. He got the month of August to be named after him and took one day from February. This is how February came to have 29 days in leap years. 

Then came Pope Gregory XIII. He moved the end of the year to December 31 in 1582 upon realising that Easter was moving closer and closer to Christmas. This move brought Easter to the spring. Then he added the rule that century years become leap year only if they are divisible by 400. 

For English folks, the leap day was also the day that women could propose marriage to a man. In the English law, February 29 was ignored and had no legal status. Later it became just a day to celebrate. Leap year balls were lavish parties where women could ask men for a dance and propose to them. 

For the Greeks, it was believed that couples would have bad luck if they married in the leap year. 

In the last century, the leap day occurred on a Sunday in 1920, 1948 and 1976. The next time a leap year will fall on a Sunday will be 2032.