Bissextile year: these events linked to a February 29

Do you know the origin of bissextile years? Back on the events that took place on February 29.

©️Gallica - BnF

2020 is a bissextile year and some time ago we wondered Why was the month of February still the shortest month. Research carried out, we learned that this exceptional month originates from the 365.25 days necessary for the earth to go around the sun. A quarter of a day which is important, whose lunar calendars and Julien do not take into account and which, above all, implies a gap of one month every 120 years. So, to correct the shot, every four years a year has 366 days. This more day, in February, allows us to recover the four quarters of the day from previous years.

The day of the Revolution

C’était sans compter sur le calendrier républicain et ses particularités. En effet, celui-ci se découpait initialement en 12 mois de 30 jours. Un total de 360 jours seulement qui obligea l’ajout de 5 jours chaque année et d’un jour pour les années bissextiles. Ces « jours complémentaires » ou « sans-culottides » étaient ajoutés à la fin du mois fructidor, dernier mois de l’année.

These 5 or 6 days, unemployed, bore different names: The day of virtue, the day of genius, the day of labor, the day of opinion, the day of the awards and the day of the revolution. It is the latter, who fell on September 22, which corresponds to our February 29 today. 

Republican calendar [of year II (September 22, 1793)]: [Estampe] / Debucourt - Gallica

We celebrate the Augustus and the Antoinette

Malgré sa rareté, le 29 février ne déroge pas aux « Saints du jour », ni aux dictons ( « En l’année bissextile, garde du blé pour l’an qui suit. » ou « L’année bissextile soyez fin, semez du chanvre au lieu du lin. ») et pas non plus aux célébrations internationales.

For example, the last day of February has since 2002 have been International Day for Awareness of Rare Diseases Or, in some countries in Central Africa, we take advantage of the « bamakolele » To bring prosperity and fertility to a loved one by spraying it with a mixture of water and mud. 

February 29, it is also the day of the birth of theclover exchanger (1916), very present on our roads today; The birth of Camember sapper (1844), comics hero; or the day of glory of films as much of the wind (1940) and the Lord of the Rings (2004) which won a Record number of Oscar Trophies. 

No drop in births on February 29

INSEE statistics with the daily distribution of living births from 1968 to 2014 do not show a drop in the number of births for this particular day.

If they are slightly lower than the average in February, the days that have the least births are holidays (respectively on December 25, January 1, November 1, November 11, etc.). Nevertheless, in terms of scarcity of the number of births, February 29 comes out with 24,430 accumulated births against 78,572 for December 25. 

Personalities were born on February 29: actor Gérard Darmon, singer Khaled, actress Michèle Morgan or the painter Balthus. But being born on February 29 can bring some hassles. Administrative cafouts, feeling of being different, wandering around the legal majority, date of birthday and other anecdotes do not always make it easier for people born today. 

Finally, did you know? Some praise the need forAdd a February 30 to our calendars, in 2060, to adjust a little more the remaining lag of a few minutes ... So, for or against a February 30?