Why Do We Have LEAP YEARS? | What Is A LEAP YEAR? | The Dr Binocs Show | Peekaboo Kidz

Hey friends, before we start today's episode, I have an important message to share with you. As you must be aware, due to certain new policies, you are not able to comment on our videos. But, don't you worry my friends, you can still share your valuable feedback, comments, views and love, at our email id PeekabooKidsFeedback at gmail.com Similarly, you can also visit our Instagram and Facebook page, and continue to engage with us. We are looking forward to hearing from you. Hurry up Kitty, she'll be here soon! Yes! Oh, hey friends, you must be wondering what all this chaos is about. Well, we are preparing for Granny's birthday party, that comes once in four years, which is on the 29th of February, a Leap Day! And we're done! A Leap Day? Yes, little Kitty. Hey friends, talking about a Leap Day, have you ever wondered, why does February have 29 days in a leap year? And during the rest of the years, it has only 28 days? I'm sure you did! So, by the time Granny arrives, let us find an answer to this exciting question, that comes once in four years, and that is, why do we have leap years? Zoom in! Hey friends, as we all are aware of the fact, that the Earth revolves around the Sun in orbit, and the period it takes to finish the revolution is considered as a year. We think, that the time taken to complete this circle, is estimated to be 365 days. But in reality, the Earth takes around 365.25 days, which counts to an extra 6 hours. So, what do we do with these extra 6 hours in hand? Well, we add them four times, to create a once in a four year phenomenon, called the Leap Year. But how? Well, to answer that question, we need to go back in time, into the Roman era. A long time ago, lived a legendary emperor named Romulus, the founder and the first king of Rome. Romulus had a problem, and that was, he found it challenging to keep track of seasons, festivals and numerous ceremonies. So, to overcome it, he ordered to make a 10 month lunar calendar, with each month consisting of either 30 or 31 days, that started in March and ended with December, and a total of 304 days. But there was a major issue with this approach. The calendar was not in sync with the four seasons. But the problem didn't end there. Once Romulus' reign ended, and King Pneuma Pompilus came into power, he decided to take a different approach, with a slight flavor of ancient Rome's superstitions. According to Romans, even numbers are considered to be a piece of bad luck. So, to avoid them, he started removing a day, from all the even numbered months. And now, the total number of days of these 10 months counted up to 298. But Pneuma wasn't satisfied, as his intention was to cover the 12 cycles of phases of the moon, which takes around 29.5 days in a month. So, they decided to multiply 29.5 days with 12 cycles of the moon, and came up with a year formed of 354 days. And as it was an even number again, Pneuma took advantage of being a king, and willingly added another day in the year, to make it a count of 355 days, an odd number. That's odd, really odd I say. But the problem was even bigger now, as they were left with an extra 57 days in hand. So, to cover them up, King Pneuma added two more months at the end of the calendar, and stacked 29 days to one month, which was January, and 28 to another, which was February, the shortest month of the year. But again, what about the extra one day in February, that makes a leap year? Well, as time progressed, and later Emperor Julius Caesar came into power, he brought in the solar calendar into the picture, which had a year made of 365 days. The solar calendar moved January and February in the beginning, and made arrangements by adding 10 days in different months, to achieve a total of 365 days. But in the end, they were left with the doubt, that what do we do with that one extra day, that came by adding an extra 6 hours 4 times. Well, as February was the shortest month, they decided to add this one extra day to it. And that's how February got 29 days in a leap year. However, everything is meant to be temporary. So, even the Julian calendar began to fail after 1500 years, as the seasons were 10 days late. And thus, to overcome this, Pope Gregory XIII replaced the Julian calendar with the more refined Gregorian one, which we still follow and assume, that it will show us the seasons and festivals cycled correctly, for the next 8000 years. TRIVIA TIME! Did you know, about 4 million people in the world are leap day babies? Termed as Leapers or Leaplings? Also, another fun fact for you! If January 1st and December 31st fall on different days of the week, then understand that, it is a leap year! Hope you enjoyed today's episode. Until next time, it's me Dr. Binocs, Zooming out! That's sad, you won't be able to make it for your birthday? Ah, never mind!