Leap Year 2020: You must know that this year i.e. 2020 is a ‘Leap Year’. That is, there will be 29 days in February this year. While the month of February was 28 days twice last year and last year. The leap year is one day more than in other years. But do you know why this happens?
Why is one more day added to our calendar every four years in the month of February? What will happen if this is not done? Let’s know the answers to these questions related to the leap year. Every fourth year, February has 29 days instead of 28. Also, the total number of days in a year is 366 instead of 365. Before 2020, there were 29 days in February in 2016. After this, 2024 will be the leap year ahead.
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Why Does One Day Grow?
A calendar corresponds to the Earth’s season. The number of days in a calendar is equal to the time taken by the Earth to orbit the Sun. Actually, it takes about 365.242 days for the Earth to complete a circle around the Sun, but there are usually only 365 days in every year. Now if the extra time put by the Earth is added to 0.242 days 4 times, then this time becomes equal to one day.
Hence there is almost one full day in four years and an additional day is added to the calendar once every four years. This year is called leap year. It may look wrong, but this mistake has been rectified through the Gregorian calendar. This is the same calendar that we put on the walls of our houses today or make our plans by looking at the date on mobile. In the year 1582, the Gregorian calendar was introduced.
Was There a Calendar Even Before the Gregorian Calendar?
- Yes. Before the Gogerian there used to be a Julian calendar, which determined the days. It was introduced in 45 BCE, but in this system the calendar was different for the leap year. When the 15th date came after 4.
- In the Julian calendar, due to lack of knowledge of the definite time of a rounding of the earth, it began to have flaws. This calendar was 10 days behind.
- To correct this discrepancy in the 16th century Julian calendar, Pope Gregory XIII in the year 1582 decreed that October 4 would be the date directly after October 4 of that year. Thus the mistake was rectified.
- Thus the pope also modified the leap year system in the Julian calendar and the new system became known as the Gregorian calendar.
