What is a Leap Year? Is 2024 a Leap Year?

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What is a Leap Year

As we have entered a New Year, you will notice that the shortest month of the year i.e. February has an extra day. Generally, there are 28 days in February, but in a leap year, there are 29 days in February. Now you will wonder what is a leap year. Leap Year is the year with a leap day, it is a day added to align the calendar with the tropical year. Leap Year is the year that occurs due to the motions of the earth in which the earth takes 366 days to complete one revolution around the sun. Read this article to gather information about what is a Leap Year, whether is 2024 a leap year, how many days are there in a leap year, when is next leap year and much more!

What is a Leap Year?

In an ordinary year, if you count the number of days, you will find out that a year has 365 days. But Leap Year has an extra day. So, a Leap Year can be defined as a year with 366 days. A leap year generally occurs every 4 years and an extra day is added to the second month of the year i.e. February. In a leap year, February has 29 days instead of 28 days. 

what is a leap year
Source: NASA Space Place

Also Read: New Year’s Eve

Leap Year has How Many Days?

A leap year has 366 days. An extra day is added to the second month of the year so a leap year has 366 days.

Rules of Leap Year

Here are the rules to find out if the year is a leap year or not:

  1. The year must be divisible by 4.
  2. The year must not be divisible by 100.
  3. The year must be divisible by 400.

Also Read: Happy New Year Wishes, Quotes, and Messages for Your Loved Ones 

How to Find Leap Year?

Are you curious about how to check if it is a leap year? If yes, all you have to do is divide the year by 4. If the digit is fully divisible by 4, it is a leap year. To make things easier to under, here is an example. The year 2004 is fully divisible by 4 whereas the year 2005 is not. 

Why does Leap Year have 366 Days?

Have you ever wondered why do we have a leap year? Well, it’s because of the astronomical reasons. We have Leap Years to keep the solar calendar in sync with the seasons. When the Earth takes extra time i.e. 365.24 days to complete its revolution around the orbit of the sun then, it is rounded off and considered as 366 days. If there is no extra day in the leap year, the seasons in the year will fall out of sync. A leap year comes after every 4 years.

Source: WatchMojo

Is 2024 a Leap Year or Not? 

Yes, 2024 is a Leap Year. One complete round of the Earth around the sun takes a year. The Earth takes 365 days, 6 hours, and 9 minutes to complete one revolution. Thus, the length of an ordinary year is rounded off to 365 days. An ordinary year has 28 days in the shortest month of the year. 

In a Leap Year, one full day is added after every four years. The last Leap Year was in 2020. So, 2024 is a leap year, which means 29 February 2024 (Thursday) will be the leap day of the year.

Also Read: New Year Celebrations Around the World 

5 Interesting Facts About Leap Year

  • Roman Dictator Julius Caesar came up with the idea of Leap Day for the Julian calendar in 45 BCE. However, it was adopted on February 24 rather than February 29.
  • There are two Leap Year capitals in the entire world which are Anthony, Texas, and Anthony, New Mexico. These regions host grand celebrations that last for a few days. 
  • Interestingly, the odds of being born on Leap Day are very low. There is a 1 in 1461 chance of a baby being born on February 29. 
  • Babies born on Leap Day are referred to as leaplings or leap year babies. They celebrate their birthday on February 28 or March 1 during non-leap years.
  • The list of famous people born on Leap Day includes jazz musician Jimmy Dorsey, actor Dennis Farina, rapper/actor Ja Rule, and so on.

When is the Next Leap Year?

Here is a Leap Year list for you:

Leap YearsLeap Days
202029 February 2020 (Saturday)
202429 February 2024 (Thursday)
202829 February 2028 (Tuesday)
203229 February 2032 (Sunday)
203629 February 2036 (Friday)

5 Leap Year Quotes 

If you are planning to post something on this Leap Day but can’t seem to figure out the caption, do not worry. Here are 5 quotes to help you create engaging posts on social media:

This Leap Year, we have an extra day to chase our dreams and achieve great heights.

Let’s take this extra day of Leap Year to make every moment count.

Leap Year is actually a gift to time that helps people aim for extraordinary possibilities.

Leap Year 2024 is a reminder that sometimes the extra time we have is all we need to make a big difference. 

Leap Day brings joy, success, and laughter to our lives by simply blessing us with one more day to live.  

Leap Year Memes

Here are a few Leap Year memes to brighten up your days:

Relevant Blogs

New Year Activities for StudentsTop New Year Resolution
10 Best New Year Resolutions for Students to Achieve Academic ExcellenceFunny New Year Resolutions
Quotes on Christmas DayTips to Keep Your New Year Resolution

FAQs

What is a leap year in short answer?

A leap year is a year having an extra day than an ordinary year means there are 366 days in a year. When Earth takes an extra day to complete one revolution around the sun then that year is considered as a leap year. Leap Years must be evenly divisible by 4 and 400.

Why is 2024 a leap year?

2024 is a leap year as it has an extra day in February. The second month of the year generally has 28 days but in 2024, February has 29 days which makes 2024 a leap year.

Is leap year every 4 years?

Yes, leap year falls every 4 years. After 2024, the leap year will be in 2028.

I hope you received relevant information about Leap Year. For more such articles, make sure to check the trending events page of Leverage Edu.

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