February 28, 2008
For some, Leap Day is a celebration
By Jim Shilander
Herald-Republica
"ANGOLA, Ind. -- And so Friday ends the oddest of months. Every four years, the shortest month of the Gregorian calendar gets a little shot of adrenaline with a big ending.
Due to the Earth's rotation actually lasting 365 days and six hours, the extra day coming (nearly) every four years is used to correct the actual number of days.
This leap year brings an occurrence that happens once every 28 years. Leap day will be on a Friday this year, an occurrence that last happened in 1980 and will occur again in 2036, said Dolores Tichenor, a professor of mathematics at Tri-State University.
"It's fairly regular, every four years, it changes by five-day cycles continually," Tichenor said. This pattern changes when the calendar hits those century years without leap days."
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