Imagine today (leap day) is your birthday. Everyone loves to celebrate their special day in different ways. This might be with your friends doing something fun, or with your family at dinner. Whatever it may be, we look forward to the day every year, but what if you don’t always get the luxury of a birthday annually?

This is the case for a small majority of people around the world who have birthdays on a leap day. Leap year birthdays are known as the most rare birthdays to have, as there is only a 1 in 1,461 chance of this occurrence according to Boston University.

Since leap years only occur every four years, people with these birthdays only see their true birthday then. In perspective, people born in the year 2000 would only be six in leap years, but twenty-four in regular calendar years. People with birthdays on Leap Day tend to celebrate on either February 28th or March 1st.

What most people don’t understand is why leap years occur in the first place. What is the point of the extra day?

It is a known fact that there are 365 days in a year, but that number is rounded. There are actually 365.242190 days in a year and those six numbers after the decimal are the reason we have a leap day every four years according to NPR. Due to this extra amount of time, it is necessary to disperse it to make sure the calendar stays on track.

At MHS, three students have leap year birthdays. Those students include Addalyn Garrison, Kira Gonzalez, and Anthony Wetzel. If you see them on their special day make sure to wish them a Happy Birthday.

Every four years we have a leap year, but why is that and how does it affect one’s birthday?