CLEVELAND — Leap Year is fascinating. It’s seriously like a ridiculously hard math problem that humankind has been collectively working on through the ages, just to try and prevent Christmas from eventually happening in the summer time. And we’re still working on it.
With that much history, you KNOW there’s a bunch of mildly interesting historical facts about February 29th, the Gregorian calendar’s weirdest some-times day. And here they are.
Anthony, Texas, claimed the title "Leap Year Capital," and it holds a lavish, multi-day celebration each leap year where people who share the odd birthday descend upon the town from all over.
The Honor Society of Leap Year Day Babies is a club for people born on Feb. 29. They have more than 11,000 worldwide members with a mission to promote Leap Day awareness and their website is terrible.
Irish tradition says it’s okay for women to propose to men on 29th February. The origin is sketchy, but it DID provide a narrative for the 2010 Amy Adams romantic comedy film “Leap Year”, which according to its Rotten Tomatoes score, isn’t celebrated even within the genre.
During leap years, January, April, and July all start on the same day. I’m not really sure why, but I highly suspect math.
Of course there’s a cocktail for it! In 1928, Harry Craddock, a bartender working at the renowned Savoy Hotel in London, devised the Leap Year drink. It’s made of gin, sweet vermouth, lemon juice, and Grand Marnier, which sounds like it would be delightful even in odd numbered years.
People born on February 29th are called "Leaplings," but I’m not sure if they were consulted on that because it kind of sounds like an insult. “Ya lousy leaplings, with your weird birthdays." See?
There are several celebrity Leaplings (still sounds bad) with famous people who just happened to be born on the 29th. Those celebs include: cool tough guy actor Dennis Farina, Pope Paul III, motivational speaker Tony Robbins and celebrated rapper Ja Rule. AKA: The Leap Year Big Four.
The statistical odds being born on leap day are one in 1,461. I don’t know what the odds are of having a Leapling for a cousin, but I do. His name is Tom, he was born on February 29, 1984, and I asked if I could take him out to lunch to help celebrate his 10th birthday. He chose Brunswick Mexican.
So anyways, happy birthday to my cousin and any of you other statistical anomalies out there, bravely sacrificing having a rational birthday to help all of us keep Halloween out of the spring. We salute you, Quadrennially.