How Many Days Until
Leap Day
Tuesday, February 29, 2028
Leap Day, February 29th, only comes once every four years. This rare calendar date makes it a quirky celebration of time, mathematics, and the people born on this unusual day.
When is Leap Day?
Leap Day is on Tuesday, February 29, 2028. Leap Day, February 29th, only comes once every four years. This rare calendar date makes it a quirky celebration of time, mathematics, and the people born on this unusual day.
Leap Day, February 29th, is the rarest date on the calendar — appearing only once every four years (with a few exceptions). It exists because Earth's orbit around the Sun takes approximately 365.25 days, and without the extra day, our calendar would drift out of sync with the seasons by about 24 days per century.
The current leap year system was established by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582 with the Gregorian calendar. A year is a leap year if it's divisible by 4, except for century years, which must be divisible by 400. This means 2000 was a leap year, but 1900 was not.
People born on February 29th — called "leaplings" or "leapers" — face the unique situation of having a birthday that only occurs every four years. There are approximately 5 million leaplings worldwide. In non-leap years, they typically celebrate on February 28th or March 1st.
Leap Day has inspired various traditions and superstitions around the world. In Ireland and Britain, there's a tradition that women can propose marriage on Leap Day. In Greece, getting married in a leap year is considered unlucky. Whatever your tradition, Leap Day is a fascinating quirk of our calendar system.