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In La Vanguardia Readers’ Photos we can relive the sunset of what is considered the most ominous day of the year, February 29. I have captured the images from Sant Fost de Campsentelles, in Vallès Oriental, on a sunset looking towards Montserrat and La Mola with high cirrus clouds.
“Leap year, sinister year,” the saying goes, do you know why? Leap years are considered unlucky years. This belief dates back to Ancient Rome.
Julius Caesar, in the year 46 BC. C., established the Julian calendar, which included an additional day every four years to synchronize it with the solar year. In leap years there are not 365 days, but 366.
The planet takes an average of 365 days, five hours, 48 ??minutes and 46 seconds (365.2422 days) to complete an orbit around the Sun. In order not to throw off the calendar or the seasons, every 4 years an extra day is added, which corresponds to the February 29.
This extra day, known as the leap day, is added to the calendar to compensate for the discrepancy between the solar year (the time it takes the Earth to orbit the Sun) and the calendar year.
February was the month chosen to add the extra day, since it was the shortest month in the Roman calendar. The additional day was called “bis sixth days ante calendas Martias”, meaning “second sixth day before the calends of March”. Over time, “bis sixth” became “leap.”
In Ancient Rome, odd days were considered auspicious and even days were considered ominous. By adding an extra day to the calendar, it was believed that the natural balance was broken and bad luck was attracted. This is where the saying comes from: “Leap year, sinister year.”
1616- Writers Miguel de Cervantes and William Shakespeare die.
1772- First day the guillotine was used.
1812- Napoleon Bonaparte is defeated in Russia.
1912- The Titanic sinks.
1936- The Spanish Civil War begins.
1940- The Nazi extermination center of Auschwitz is built.
1948- Gandhi was assassinated in New Delhi, India.
1968- Martin Luther King was the victim of a sniper.
1972- 11 Israeli athletes were kidnapped and murdered during the Olympic Games.
1980- John Lennon was murdered.
2016- The Brazilian team Chapecoense was traveling to Colombia when its plane crashed, killing 71 people.
2020- The coronavirus pandemic reaches the entire world.
Another of the most notable curiosities of leap years are people born on February 29, also known as “leaplings” or “old people.”
These people celebrate their birthday only once every four years. In non-leap years, its celebration date is moved to February 28 or March 1.
