Monday Cuppa Moment 2/29

Happy Monday, friends! 708a42b12895a9d83f276dab66b5c34d

A little coffee word play to start your day :)

By the way, today is Leap Day and it just so happens one of my favorite movies is Leap Year with Amy Adams and Matthew Goode.

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Have you seen it yet? If not, you're in for a treat. It's based on a Leap Day tradition of a woman getting to propose to a man. I did a little research and here are some fun and interesting Leap Day traditions:

 

  • A man was expected to pay a penalty, such as a gown or money, if he refused a marriage proposal from a woman on Leap Day. In many European countries, especially in the upper classes of society, tradition dictates that any man who refuses a woman's proposal on February 29 has to buy her 12 pairs of gloves.
  • According to an old Irish legend, or possibly history, St Brigid struck a deal with St Patrick to allow women to propose to men – and not just the other way around – every four years. (which is the basis for the movie Leap Year mentioned above).
  • Julius Caesar introduced the idea, but the math he used wasn't quite right, creating too many leap years. Essentially, every 400 years, we ended up with three extra days, so to compensate, centuries must be divisible by 400 to count as leap years. Years like 1700, 1800 and 1900 are only 365 days long, rather than 366.
  • The chances of having a birthday on a leap day are about one in 1,461, according to BBC.
  • During leap years, George Armstrong Custer fought the Battle of the Little Bighorn (1876), the Titanic sank (1912), Benjamin Franklin proved that lightning is electricity (1752) and gold was discovered in California (1848).

Thanks to USA Today, Leap Day Customs & Traditions, and Cleveland.com for the fun facts.

Hope you enjoy your Leap Day!

Blessings,

Dani Pettrey6 Comments