Are you a Leaper?

Imagine only having your birthday every four years or so? Yes, you would age chronologically just like everyone else, but if you are a “leaper”, aka someone born on February 29th, you rarely get to celebrate your real birthday on the date of your birth. In the United Kingdom and Hong Kong, when a person born on February 29 turns 18, they are considered to have their birthday on March 1 in the relevant year. In New Zealand, a person born on February 29 is deemed to have their birthday on February 28 in non-leap years. But what is a leap day or year? February 29, is a date added to most years that are divisible by 4, such as 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020, and 2024. The statistics behind the number are surprisingly simple: Four years is equal to 1,460 days, and the leap year rounds it up to 1,461. Assuming the odds of being born are the same for every day, your chances of being a “leaper” turn out to be one in 1,461. A leap day is observed because the Earth's period of orbital revolution around the Sun takes approximately 6 hours longer than 365 days (8,760 hours). A leap day compensates for this lag, realigning the calendar with the Earth's position in the Solar System; otherwise, seasons would occur later than intended in the calendar year. Since 1988, Anthony, Texas, has championed itself as the Leap Year Capital of the World: In 2012, the town’s three-day celebration included a car show, an ice hockey game, and a golf tournament. At the website of the Honour Society of Leap Year Day Babies (“spreading Leap Year day awareness” for 19 years), fellow “leapers” share tales of woe: children who thought their birthdays were taken away, parents begging and bribing doctors to fudge kids’ birth certificates to February 28 or March 1. A leap year conundrum is used in the plot of Gilbert and Sullivan's 1879 comic opera The Pirates of Penzance. As a child, Frederic was apprenticed to a band of pirates until his 21st birthday. Having passed his 21st year, he leaves the pirate band and falls in love. However, since he was born on February 29, his 21st birthday will not arrive until he is eightyfour, so he must leave his fiancée and return to the pirates.

The last leap day was February 29, 2020. The next will be February 29th 2024.

February 29 turns 18, they are considered to have their birthday on March 1 in the relevant year. In New Zealand, a person born on February 29 is deemed to have their birthday on Any readers who have a birthday on February 29th, Molesey Matters would love

When do you celebrate? February 28 in non leap day or year? February 29, is a date added to most years that are divisible by 4, such as Source: Various 2008, 2012, 2016, 8 www.villagematters.co.uk Please mention Molesey Matters when responding to adverts 2020, and 2024.

The Aztecs valued chocolate so much their taxation was levied in cocoa beans! The hot frothy drink they made was reserved for warriors, nobility and priests and was said to confer wisdom and vitality. Emperor Montezuma, not one for moderation, drank 50 goblets a day.

Scientists have suggested that the antioxidants and flavonoids in chocolate with at least 70% cocoa improve verbal and visual memory, reaction times, balance certain hormones, help to relieve blood pressure and boost serotonin levels, our brain’s natural anti-depressant. All good reasons to indulge a little, especially this month. And what could be nicer on a cold Valentine’s Day than snuggling up with your romantic other and a cup of hot chocolate? Use high-quality cocoa powder, preferable organic and fair trade, and make a hot drink, sweetened with honey. Then cook the object of your affections an authentic Mexican chilli dish by adding cocoa to the sauce. The nutrient capsaicin, found in chillies, is a powerful antioxidant which helps to prevent many conditions such as high cholesterol, heart and lung diseases and cataracts. It also stimulates blood circulation which boosts the immune system and it even relieves pain.