Enjoy an extra day: 2016 is a leap year

Does your birthday fall on February 29th? Celebrate properly in 2016 as the date will appear on calendars this year.

The year 2016 is what people call a leap year, meaning there's 366 days in it, instead of the usual 365.

A leap year happens every four years and it is observed to account for the extra time that it takes for the earth to make an orbit. The Gregorian Calendar, which we use in the Philippines, marks the 365 days it takes for the planet to revolve around the sun, but omits an "excess" of six hours.

Every four years, an accumulated 24 hours is observed as a "leap day." Not observing the leap day would produce 24 "surplus" days after 100 years.

Why is it observed in February?

According to reports by the BBC and the International Business Times (published on a previous leap year, 2012), the days of the month are the result of the ego of Julius Caesar.

Prior to his reign, the people observed only 355 days in the year with an extra 22-day month every two years. This was a cumbersome setup and Julius Caesar therefore decided, with the help of astronomer Sosigenes, to add 10 extra days to the existing 355 instead.

August, his month, ended up having only 29 days. A little miffed, he then "pinched" a couple of days from February to make August equal to July.

The "extra day" was subsequently awarded to the short-changed February. —AT, GMA News