Spring Break
Leap Year Babies Maintain Youth Longer
Lindsay Fetzner
Issue date: 2/29/08 Section: Focus
The saying "forever young" has been around for decades. Many people take it to heart and try to stop the aging process as best they can, opting for plastic surgery, herbal remedies or hitting the gym most days of the week. However for some, it simply comes naturally. Today, after another four years, we can finally honor those 4.1 million people worldwide who were born on a Leap Day.
It is estimated that roughly 1 in 1,500 babies will be born on a Leap Day and that about 200,000 Americans celebrate Feb. 29 as their birthday, according to the 2000 U.S. Census. Ja Rule, born in 1976, is one celebrity who celebrates his birthday on this day. He is among many other celebrities who appear on the 'Famous Leapies' Web page.
"A lot of people remember me because they have never met a leap year baby before," said Annalisa Esposito, a 4th-semester business and Italian major. "My birthday is never forgotten by any of my relatives or friends. Even if the 29th doesn't come around that year, I get phone calls starting the morning of the 28th to the end of the day on the 1st. My birthday is fun and unique and it reflects my personality."
During the 1960s in Norway, three siblings were born on three consecutive Leap Days. The Guinness Book of World Records has documented this as the rarest scenario involving birthdays falling on this day, according to suite101.com.
"One of the funny things is that sometimes computers won't recognize that my birthday exists," said Amanda Alimo, a 4th-semester communication major. "For example, when you apply for certain jobs on the computer, it will say 'birth date invalid."
The rationale behind the Leap Year is equally as interesting. A calendar year is slightly shorter than a solar year, and consists of 365 days. However, when the year is divisible by four, an extra day is added. The extra day is added is to bring the average length of the calendar year into line with the length of the Earth's orbit around the Sun. In this way, the seasons always occur during the same months every year, according to the National Maritime Museum. However, if the year is the last one of the century, it is only considered a leap year if it is divisible by the number 400 and not four. For this reason, 1900 was not a leap year, but 2000 was.
It is estimated that roughly 1 in 1,500 babies will be born on a Leap Day and that about 200,000 Americans celebrate Feb. 29 as their birthday, according to the 2000 U.S. Census. Ja Rule, born in 1976, is one celebrity who celebrates his birthday on this day. He is among many other celebrities who appear on the 'Famous Leapies' Web page.
"A lot of people remember me because they have never met a leap year baby before," said Annalisa Esposito, a 4th-semester business and Italian major. "My birthday is never forgotten by any of my relatives or friends. Even if the 29th doesn't come around that year, I get phone calls starting the morning of the 28th to the end of the day on the 1st. My birthday is fun and unique and it reflects my personality."
During the 1960s in Norway, three siblings were born on three consecutive Leap Days. The Guinness Book of World Records has documented this as the rarest scenario involving birthdays falling on this day, according to suite101.com.
"One of the funny things is that sometimes computers won't recognize that my birthday exists," said Amanda Alimo, a 4th-semester communication major. "For example, when you apply for certain jobs on the computer, it will say 'birth date invalid."
The rationale behind the Leap Year is equally as interesting. A calendar year is slightly shorter than a solar year, and consists of 365 days. However, when the year is divisible by four, an extra day is added. The extra day is added is to bring the average length of the calendar year into line with the length of the Earth's orbit around the Sun. In this way, the seasons always occur during the same months every year, according to the National Maritime Museum. However, if the year is the last one of the century, it is only considered a leap year if it is divisible by the number 400 and not four. For this reason, 1900 was not a leap year, but 2000 was.
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