why do we have leap years

[zzxxee]

any ideas peeps??

[jb190281]

something to do with the amount of time the earth takes to orbit the sun, not overly sure sorry! i think.... is it that the earth takes more than 365 days, and the only way to catch up is to have the extra day??

[zzxxee]

good theory xx

[craft1948]

so we can have Olympic Games.........

[Barmaid]

I thought it was so us girls could propose.

[zzxxee]

i just wondered if it went back to romans have googled but lots of different theories came up

[jb190281]

my partner's birthday is actually 29th Feb, bit crap really !!

[zzxxee]

is it a leap year this year ??

[mightyWBA]

A day really lasts 23 hours 56 minutes
So the Earth really takes 365 and a quarter days to orbit the sun
a leap year occurs every 4 years because those quarter day of a day makes an extra one every 4 years(February 29th) :-)

[zzxxee]

pants haveing a birthday on 29th of feb never know which day to celebrate it on if its not a leap year 28th feb or 1 march !!!!

[albaqwerty]

^^^^ what he said :D

[mightyWBA]

Learnt that in junior school :-)

[zzxxee]

and if you only leap a years why is it only every four years???

[sara3]

swoooon, he's so smart, I might just propose to him ♥

[factor-fiction]

I wasn't aware there are lots of theories. The only explanation I've ever heard is that the earth's orbit takes around 365 and a quarter days so we create an extra day every four years. But because it isn't exactly 365.25 we have rules about not having leap years in century years (e.g.1800, 1900, 2100) except when are divisible by 400 (e.g. 2000)

[cazzz1975]

its an excuse to make women propose

[albaqwerty]

what's 365 x 4minutes? is that enough to make an extra 24 hours? Why stick it onto February?

[zzxxee]

you been on the lash carabint??