Did you know that this day occurs in most years that are evenly divisible by 4, such as 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016? Years that are evenly divisible by 100 do not contain a leap day, with the exception of years that are evenly divisible by 400, which do contain a leap day; thus 1900 did not contain a leap day while 2000 did. Years containing a leap day are called leap years.
And on this day in 1504 Christopher Columbus uses his knowledge of a lunar eclipse that night to convince Native Americans to provide him with supplies, in 1916 concerning Child labor in South Carolina, the minimum working age for factory, mill, and mine workers is raised from twelve to fourteen years old, in 1940, for her role as Mammy in Gone with the Wind, Hattie McDaniel becomes the first African American to win an Academy Award, in 1960 an earthquake in Morocco kills over 3,000 people and nearly destroys Agadir in the southern part of the country and in 1988 South African archbishop Desmond Tutu is arrested along with 100 clergymen during a five-day anti-apartheid demonstration in Cape Town.
Some birthdays to remember on this day (especially since they can only celebrate once every four years) are Gioachino Rossini, Italian composer (1792-1868), Jimmy Dorsey, American bandleader (1904-1957), Dinah Shore, American singer and actress (1916-1994), Tempest Storm, American burlesque performer (1928) and Ja Rule, American rapper and actor (1976).
Need a reason to raise a glass of bubbly on this day? Why not simply celebrate surviving another leap day? They do, after all, only come around once every four years…
For more information about historic events on this day, please go here.
A Glass of Bubbly 