{"id":32283,"date":"2016-02-29T09:07:48","date_gmt":"2016-02-29T16:07:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/2016\/02\/why-leap-year-adds-another-day-to-february\/"},"modified":"2016-02-29T09:07:48","modified_gmt":"2016-02-29T16:07:48","slug":"why-leap-year-adds-another-day-to-february","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/why-leap-year-adds-another-day-to-february\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Leap Year Adds Another Day to February"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Leap<\/a><\/p>\n

What determines whether there\u2019ll be a February 29 in a given year?<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

If you\u2019re planning on taking GMAT this year, you may notice one extra day in your February study schedule. That\u2019s right, 2016 is a leap year, but chances are you don\u2019t know why February 29 comes along every four years or so.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong>The history of leap year<\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong>The reason 2016 comprises 366 days instead of the usual 365 is because the modern <\/span>Gregorian calendar<\/span><\/a>, which is the most widely used calendar in the world, needs to stay in sync with the Earth\u2019s revolution around the sun, which takes 365.2 days\u2014also known as a tropical Year. The Gregorian calendar has only 365 days, making it a quarter of a day short of the full tropical year.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong>That\u2019s where leap year rules comes in.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong>The Julian and Gregorian calendars<\/b><\/p>\n

You can thank Julius Caesar for first instituting leap years almost 2,000 years ago. What most of us don\u2019t know, however, is that there are sets of criteria used to determine whether a given year should be designated a leap year. The Julian Calendar was not the most accurate in this regard. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong>In fact, the Julian system led to a great deal of confusing by producing too many leap years, since the only criteria was that the year had to be divisible by four. Thus, in 1582 the Gregorian calendar was introduced, bringing with it a new set of rules for determining leap years.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong>So, how are leap years determined in the Gregorian calendar? According to <\/span>Discover<\/span><\/i><\/a>, they must follow these rules:<\/span><\/p>\n