DanMargarita.com

I’m sure you couldn’t help but be aware that February, the coldest, bleakest month of the year, at least in these here parts, got to be extended an extra day this year due to 2008 being a Leap Year. What, they couldn’t have given us July 32nd?

I suppose that would have messed up that little reminder poem, which is already kind of messed up anyway.

“30 days has September, April, June and November. All the rest have 31…except for February which has 28 days, not including Leap Year when it has 29.”

Well, there are differing versions of it. I think whoever wrote that version was in a hurry to get out of work and go home. It must’ve been a Friday afternoon.

Leap Year was first introduced by Julius Caesar, leading to what is known as “The Julian Calendar.” That’s just one of the perks of being the emperor.

Basically, the need for Leap Year is because the earth doesn’t revolve around the sun in exactly 365 days. We have Leap year so that the calendar doesn’t creep up and we end having Christmas in what would otherwise be August.

Eventually, most of the world switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar, according to the website www.timeanddatecom which poses the question “Why the change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar?”

I think the answer to that lies above in paragraph six. (See: Emperor, perks.)

The actual answer is that the Julian calendar had too many leap days.

According to TAD.com, the criteria for a Leap Year is:
1. Every year that is divisible by four is a leap year;
2. of those years, if it can be divided by 100, it is NOT a leap year unless,
3. the year is divisible by 400. Then it is a leap year.
4. If you’re the person who discovered this, you need a hobby.

Okay, I made that last one up.

To make a an even more accurate calendar, an adjustment was made by dropping 11 days from the calendar in October, which must have really messed up peoples’ appointment books. One can easily imagine the confusion of a guy waking up with a hangover, thinking he had an 11 day blackout.

The 11 day adjustment didn’t occur in the U.S. until 1752, which puts George Washington’s actual birthday on February 11. That one, I didn’t make up!

Hopefully, you remembered to change your clocks this past weekend. “Spring forward, fall back” is the saying, referring to the direction of the clock change and not instructions to an Olympic gymnast.

That saying is easier to remember than “Starve a cold, feed a fever” which could possibly be “Feed a cold, starve a fever.” I’m not sure which is correct but that’s probably what they teach on day one at medical school.

Founding Father Ben Franklin first conceived of Daylight Savings Time, perhaps in order to give himself more daylight for his kite-flying.

The California Energy Commission’s website quotes the Mining Co. Guide to Geography (which has the hottest centerfolds!) as saying that some 70 countries observe DST. Yet, not all of the United States does so. Hawaii has no DST, perhaps figuring “Just how much sunshine do you need in Paradise?” Nor does most of Arizona, with the exception of the Navajo Indian Reservation, whose members apparently concluded:

“Don’t be an idiot, Paleface.”

Many people complain about losing an hour of sleep at this time of year due to Daylight Savings Time, but I’ve found a way to offset that…I sleep an extra hour on Sunday.