What is Leap Year, why do we have it, and how does it work? Vox explains and explores another question: When do leap year babies — born on the rare date of February 29th — celebrate their birthdays?
This is an existential question for leap babies. The community is divided into “28thers” and “1sters,” as one reader, Phil Haney, told me… “My mother always told me that I was born ‘the day after the 28th.’” He said. “I wasn’t here on the 28th, so it makes more sense to celebrate on March 1.”
Shannon Esposito, a fourth-grade teacher outside Chicago, is an avowed 28ther. “I have always, always celebrated on February 28. To me, it’s always been a February birthday,” she said. “I am not a March baby!”…
Are you turning 32, or 8? That’s the question leap year babies can’t avoid on their actual birthdays… Does everyone make the joke that you’re a quarter of your actual age?
Spoiler: Yes. Also from Vox: How do solar & lunar eclipses work? Plus: Reasons for the Seasons and Carl Sagan’s Cosmic Calendar.