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How It Happened

How It Happened image
Parent Issue
Day
7
Month
February
Year
1896
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

All the maidens who want to avail themselves of the leap year piivileges should be on the alert during 1896, as there will not be another opportunity in eight years.. The last year of every ceutury whioh oannot be divided by foor hundred is not a leap year. Thus, 5 700, 1800, and 1900 eto., are nol; leap years, aud those of which four hundred is a factor are leap years, except the yeat 3600. The explanation of the above philosophy is, tbat years are oomposed of fractional parts, viz: three bundred aud sixty-five days, five hours, forty-eight minutes and forty-eight seoonds. If fractional part of a day was just six hours, the calendar and seasons could be brought to agree every fourth year by adding one extra day to it, as we now do, calling said year, leap year ; out tho one day added is eleven minutes and twelve seconds too much ; and the calendar is that amount ahead of the seasons, and this state of things renders it necessary tbat an acoount be kept between the oalendar and the seasous, sometí mes one being ahead, and then the othcr. At tho end of the first centnry the former was ei ghteen honrs and forty minutes too much. By calculation we find that in fonr centuiies the amonut would be three days, two hours and forty minutes, in view ol which the leap day is ornitted from the last year of each of the tbree centuries, leaving two hours and forty minutes still on hand after making the year 450 a leap year. The next four hundred years will be subject to the samf experiences, with another two hi'-,,í and frarty minutes on hand in fa vor of the calendar. Now, two and two-thirds hours are contained in twenty-fonr, nine times and no reroainder, ancl nine times four hundred years eqnal thirfy-six hundred, frora which yeir the leap day is omitted, and the calendar and the seasons start anew, subject to an exact repetition of the previous thirty-six centnries. The above calculations are based on the presumption that tho system wasregulated to have eorumenced at the beginniug of the Qhristian Era,

Article

Subjects
Ann Arbor Argus
Old News