It usually occurs every four years when the calendar year is divisible by four. 2024 is a leap year and the next one won’t happen until 2028, then 2032 and 2036. February, the shortest month, gets an extra day in a leap year. According to historians, Julius Caesar started doing it in 45 B.C.E. when creating the Julian calendar.
According to the History channel, Feb. 29 is a rare birthday although there are an estimated 5 million people who celebrate birthdays on that date. If a person only has a birthday every four years, does that make him or her younger by not counting the years when there is no Feb. 29? I don’t know, but wouldn’t it be nice?
Speaking of birthday celebrations, in 1988, Anthony, a town on the Texas-New Mexico border, created a festival to celebrate Leap Day with a four-day party featuring food, music and frivolity. Any excuse to party works! Anthony came to be known as the Leap Year capital of the world.
There are superstitions about the day and many have revolved around romance and marriage. In the 5th-century, St. Patrick of Ireland designated Feb. 29 as a day on which women were permitted to propose marriage to men. They were prohibited from doing it on any other day. In Greece, however, it is bad luck to marry on Feb. 29. Hopefully, that superstition has fallen out of favor.
Is it a coincidence that one of the most romantic days on the calendar occurs in February? Feb. 14, Valentine’s Day, is traditionally a day for romance. The advertisements and promotions start as soon as the Christmas tree is at the curb and the lights are taken down. Thanks to a different saint, storekeepers have another commercial opportunity. I love the holiday since it is also another opportunity to express love.
Like Leap Day, Valentine’s Day has legends around its beginnings. One says that Valentine was a priest who performed secret marriages. Another tale says he fell in love and was subsequently imprisoned. While jailed, he wrote to his love before he died and signed it, “from your Valentine.” Maybe that’s where the tradition of sending cards to loved ones on that day. In the past, Hallmark was the recipient of most of the business, but ecards may have cut into their profits. Most stories depict Valentine as romantic. When he died on Feb. 14, it became a holiday to celebrate him.
February has other memorable days such as President’s Day, which is again a day for storewide sales. The month also features Groundhog Day when Phil comes out from his underground digs to predict the weather. The fact that he’s a rodent doesn’t deter his supporters. Groundhog Day made its way across the Atlantic Ocean with German settlers to the United States in 1887. The film, released in 1993, helped it along. If Phil sees his shadow when he emerges, we are in for six more weeks of winter and who wants that?
February is the month with something for almost everyone. For me, there’s National Dark Chocolate Day on Feb. 1, but I choose to celebrate that day all year.
Dorothy Dworkin is a freelance writer and writing teacher.
