What? We have 29 days in February this year! That’s right people, this year is a Leap Year and you know what that means….another day to party. In honor of the extra 24 hours this year, party, party, party! PartyCheap will help you get everything you need to throw the best Leap Year party around…after all it only happens every 4 years, so get leapin’!
What is Leap year anyway?
Every four years we add an extra day to the calendar, this is called Leap Day. Leap Day is always on February 29th. An extra day - 24 hours - is added to the calendar to ensure that the alignment of Earth’s movement around the Sun is accurate. While the modern calendar only contains 365 days, the time that it takes for Earth to orbit the Sun is 365.2421. That might not seem like a big deal, but over the decades and centuries that missing quarter of a day per year can certainly add up. Therefore to ensure that the astronomical year stay consistent, it is necessary to add an extra day to make up for lost time.
The first people to discover the need for a leap year were the Egyptians. Although the Egyptians were the first to discover leap year, the practice didn’t arrive until the reign of Roman dictator Julius Caesar. The Romans followed a muddled lunar model calendar that regularly required adding an extra month to maintain celestial consistency. In 46 B.C., Caesar and the astronomer, Sosigenes, revised the Roman calendar. The new calendar, the “Julian Calendar”, would include 12 months, 365 days, and a leap day added every four years.
Although Caesar’s model helped to realign the Roman calendar, it wasn’t completely correct. Since the solar year is only .242 days longer than the calendar year and not an even .25, adding a leap year every four years actually leaves out an additional 11 minutes. This would mean that the Julian calendar would be off course by one day every 128 years, and by the 14th century it would have strayed 10 years off the solar year. In order to fix the glitch, in 1582 Pope Gregory XIII developed a revised “Gregorian Calendar.” In this new model, leap year occurs every four years, except years evenly divisible by 100 and not by 400. Thus meaning, the year 1900 was not a leap year because it was only divisible by 100, but not by 400. The Pope’s updated calendar remains in use today even though it’s not perfect. Experts note that the remaining glitches will need to be worked out in about 10,000 years. For more information about leap year, click here
Leap into Action!
Now that we know about why we have an extra day, it’s time to figure out how to spend your extra day. Not sure how to throw a leap year party? That’s okay! PartyCheap will assist you in all your leap year party ideas 
and needs! Since leap year isn’t a set theme, you can have any type of party your heart desires. From Fiestas to Star Wars Parties to outback BBQ’s , just make this celebration one for the books! Use party streamers, cutouts and backdrops to help define the theme of the party. No matter what you decide, it will sure be a great time!
Having a leap year baby?
We have a baby on board! Throw a baby shower to welcome the new baby boy or girl! Make it a jungle theme or luau baby shower. Get everyone involved in a gender reveal party!.Will the baby be a he or a she? Party Cheap has adorable and exciting reveal party ideas and supplies to welcome the new leap year baby!
Happy Leapin’ Birthday!
Is it your birthday? You get an extra day this year to PARTY! After all, who doesn't like an extra day to celebrate? Whether you are turning 10 or 75...leap year birthdays are so much fun! Whether you celebrate on the 28th or on the first of March any other year, take advantage of the true day you were born and make it count! Make your party anyway you like. Leap on over to PartyCheap for leap year birthday party ideas. Woo Hoo! Happy Birthday Leap Year Baby!
Lastly, don’t forget that February has 29 days this year! Make it memorable! Happy Leap Year! Today only comes every four years, so make it special, reject negativity, love those who hate and follow your dreams!
