Why 1900 was not a leap year

A common year has days and a leap year days, with the extra--or intercalary --day designated as February A leap year occurs every four years to help synchronize the calendar year with the solar year, or the length of time it takes to complete the Earth's orbit around the sun, which is about days and a quarter of a day.

The length of the solar year, however, is slightly less than days-by about 11 minutes. To compensate for this discrepancy, the leap year is omitted three times every four hundred years.

In other words, a century year cannot be a leap year unless it is divisible by Thus , , and were not leap years, but , , and are leap years. If you are born on a Leap Year, can you get your driver's license as early as February 28th? Well, each state decides whether or not February 28 or March 1 will be the day you are eligible to get your license.

Most states, however, consider March 1st the official day. For instance, the Michigan Vehicle Code states that people born on February 29th "are deemed to have been born on March 1st. There are no rules on when you have a party, however, so really in day in February or March is fair game to celebrate a leap year birthday.

There are about , people in the US and 4 million people in the world who were born on Leap Day. Most years that can be divided evenly by 4 are leap years.

Skip to main content. View the discussion thread. Exploration Space. Thank you. You have successfully signed up for our newsletter. Error message Sorry, there was a problem. Please ensure your details are valid and try again. Steven F. Mobile Newsletter chat dots. Mobile Newsletter chat avatar. Mobile Newsletter chat subscribe. Science Vs. Everyday Myths. Updated: Apr 16, A leap year occurs almost every four years.

Is a leap year every four years? In order for a year to qualify as a leap year, it must be divisible by 4. If it is a centurial year, it must also be divisible by What exactly does leap year mean? It takes the Earth about This number is rounded off to