The Columbian February 27, 2004

Serving Clark County, Washington

Leap year legacies

Friday, February 27, 2004
By TRICIA JONES, Columbian staff writer

Expectations can be high when something takes place just once every four years.

Presidential elections offer hope for U.S. voters, whether it's the chance for a fresh start or to keep the
current administration. The Olympics supply the drama of physical excellence, including the shattering of world records.

But anticipation also sets us up for disappointment. The desired candidate loses. Scandal taints an Olympic win.

And so it goes for leap year. With occasional exceptions, our calendar gets one extra day, Feb. 29, once every four years.
In 2004 that extra day falls on Sunday, and in its honor, we've done a bit of digging to determine what sort of legacy leap
years can claim.

Are leap years a series of 366-day spans in which great events take place? Or does leap year have a history of downright
abominable happenings we'd all just as soon forget?

Here are samples of occurrences during years boasting a 366th day. What do they prove about leap year? You be the judge.
And if the findings have you worried about the next 308 days, then relax. Leap year won't be back until 2008.

For more information, visit www.leapzine.com/factsandtrivia.htm & Events That Took Place During Leap Years

The Queen Mary II is launched (2004); the Titanic sinks on its maiden voyage (1912)

President Calvin Coolidge proposes Father's Day be observed nationally (1924); Lizzie Borden is accused, and acquitted, of
hacking her father and step-mother to death in Fall River, Mass. (1892)

The first weekly installment of Charles Dickens' "Great Expectations" appears in a weekly British publication (1860); Grace
Metalious' "Peyton Place" is presented to the reading public (1956)

Hordes of screeching teenagers greet The Beatles at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport (1964); a deranged
fan murders John Lennon outside the musician's Manhattan apartment (1980)

The World Chess League is founded at The Hague in the Netherlands (1924); Modern bingo is developed from an Italian
lotto game (1880)

"Great Performances" debuts on PBS (1972); ABC adds "Charlie's Angels" to its primetime fall lineup (1976)

John F. Kennedy is elected president of the United States (1960); Richard Nixon is elected president of the United States (1972)

"The Godfather" is named Best Picture by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (1972); "The English Patient" is
named Best Picture by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (1996)

The National Forest Service releases its first poster of Smokey Bear as a fire prevention symbol (1944); more than a third of
Yellowstone National Park is scorched in summer fires (1988)

Led Zeppelin is formed in England (1968); Milli Vanilli is formed in Germany (1988)

The Pilgrims arrive at Plymouth Rock and are greeted by Indians who will help them survive their first winter in North America
(1620); Colorado volunteer soldiers slaughter hundreds of Indians, including women and children, under a white flag of truce in
the Sand Creek Massacre (1864)

Tchaikovsky's ballet, "The Nutcracker," is first performed in St. Petersburg (1892); "All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front
Teeth" hits the pop charts (1948)

Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton are married (1964); Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton are divorced for the second time (1976)

Starbucks introduces a mail-order catalog with service to all 50 states (1988); Brazil's economy collapses owing to over-production
of coffee (1928)

The first water closet is installed for Queen Elizabeth I at Richmond Palace (1596); the U.S. Department of Energy mandates low-flush
toilets as a water conservation measure (1992)