I was born in a leap year. A new president was also elected that year. If anyone has trouble keeping track of when a leap year happens, just pay attention to the year of a Presidential Election. Most likely, but sometimes not, you would be correct assuming it was a Leap Year. It all depends.
Hard and fast rules do exist when it comes to our so very capricious Gregorian calendar; which is better than the old Julian calendar, but when it is all said done, neither one is much to shout home about.
I wondered about the association of a leap year/election cycle and was it part of the grand plan back in the day when out forefathers were farting in silk undies, swilling ale, and coming up with this great experiment that seems to be on a downward spiral now that the GOP and the Right have finally gone over the edge.
But I digress. This post is not about my extreme disappointment in my country. This post is supposed to be an effort to ignore that disappointment and instead divert yours and my attention to issues that may be of interest to someone somewhere., but probably will fall flat wherever they land.
When was Leap Year created? Why was it created? And was our election cycle purposefully entwined with it?
We have to go back to the days of Julius Caesar and before to find its beginnings.
At some point humans did not want to live Life without some kind of clock or ability to record the passing of time. Following the lead of the four seasons just would not cut it anymore. Beginning many years B.C., many attempts were made. All of them fell short. Then in 46 BC, the Julian calendar was invented. It went through more than a few adjustments ( months added, months deleted, days added and then subtracted. Leap days were included, not included; it was a mess.
The effort was an obvious failure and maybe a good hint that allowing politicians to decide scientific issues was not a good idea. We still have not learned that lesson.
The whole issue revolves around our inability to coincide our lives cleanly with the rotation of Mother Earth around the Sun. We still do not have it perfect, but we got close when we came up with the Gregorian Calendar. The final installment of the Gregorian system has served us well enough for the past 442 years.
The Gregorian calendar hit a sweet spot when it settled on 365 days it takes the planet to circle the Sun. Problem is, the round trip takes an additional 5 hours, 48 minutes and 56 seconds of each year that is not accounted for. What do you do with this. Blow it off or incorporate some kind a regular adjustment to keep our schedule in sync with Mother Nature's. Deciding an extra day every four years would account for the discrepancy and keep the planet on a somewhat predictable timetable.
BUT.......................
Adding that extra day every four years was slightly too much, so every century that is not cleanly divisible by 400, we skip a scheduled leap year, so that we and our planet can remain in sync.
Hmm ....................................
Regarding any serious thought the Flounders of our great country had regarding combining the Leap Year cycles with an election cycle seems non-existent. At least I have not been able to find any planned connection. Luck of the draw I guess.
Leap Year and all its rules is but another example of just how messed up the concept of time and how it passes is.
Is there is a simpler, more logical calendar than the Gregorian one that most of the world follows?
Depends on who you talk to.
Hang in There ........................................
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I had a Chambers Brothers tune in mind at first. Then I remembered Chicago Transit Authority's, "Does Anyone Really Know What Time it is?"
What a great tune. And better yet, it fits almost perfectly with the post. Anyway, please enjoy this great tune from back in the day.
1 comment:
That’s a lot of information about a day that we only see every4 years. But thanks.
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