Today Is Your Birthday, 'Leapling'

Are you a “leapling” – also known as a “leap year baby"?

If you are, Happy Birthday! Today, Feb. 29, really is the date you were born. You don’t have to celebrate it this year on Feb. 28 or March 1.

It's Leap Day today, of course, the extra day added to February almost every four years to keep us in line with the rotation of the Earth around the Sun.

Do you know anyone born on Feb. 29? If you do, let us know in the comments box at the end of this article.

There are some interesting traditions linked to Leap Day, according to TimeandDate.com. Perhaps the most notable one: A woman can propose marriage to a man on this day.

It’s an old Irish legend, actually. St. Bridget reportedly made a deal with St. Patrick to allow women to propose to men on this day every four years. 

Allowing this to occur somehow was expected to create some balance in the roles of men and women the same way Leap Day balances out the calendar. And a man who refuses the marriage proposal is penalized. So, it might be a good idea to stay away from your special woman if you don’t want to get married just yet.

Who invented leap year?

Julius Caesar was behind the origin of leap year in 45 BC, according to about.com. The early Romans had a 355-day calendar and to keep festivals occurring around the same season each year a 22- or 23-day month was created every second year.

Julius Caesar decided to simplify things and added days to different months of the year to create the 365-day calendar, the actual calculation was made by Caesar's astronomer, Sosigenes. Every fourth year following the 28th day of February 29, one day was added, making every fourth year a leap year.

So, there you have it. Enjoy the extra day this year if you can. Let us know in the comments box if you're doing something special.