What if we didn’t have leap years? And what if you’re born on one?
What if we didn’t have leap years? Maybe you haven’t given it much thought.
But people born on a “leap day” have given it many thoughts.
We’ve spoken to a number of them and asked about how their date of birth has affected their lives.
“I just want people to know that my birthday does exist,” one 29 February-born woman told Sky News.
We’ll get to that shortly.
First, what’s the deal with leap years anyway?
What if we didn’t have them?
A leap year means there’s an extra day in the calendar – 29 February.
They were introduced because most modern calendars worldwide have 365 days in them, but the actual solar year – the length of time it takes for the Earth to orbit the Sun – is approximately 365.25 days.
NASA explains: “To make up for the missing partial day, we add one day to our calendar approximately every four years. That is a leap year.”
If you don’t add that extra day approximately every four years, our calendars would eventually fall out of sync with the seasons.
Leap year origins
The leap year is thought to have been introduced by the Egyptians to balance the seasons in the third century BC.
They were observing a 365-day year that included a leap year every four years to correct the calendar, according to the National Geographic.
Pic: AP
But this wasn’t quite working long-term, because a solar year still isn’t exactly 365.25 days – it’s just a tiny bit shorter at 365.2422.
It meant that even with a leap day every four years, each calendar year was about 11 minutes shorter than the seasonal calendar, meaning the calendar ended up being an entire day short every 128 years.
By the 16th century, the Romans decided to take drastic action, as they believed Christian holidays were being celebrated on the wrong days.
Pope Gregory XIII unveiled his own Gregorian calendar in 1582, and dropped 10 days from the month of October that year to sync things back up with the seasons.
The National Geographic said: “He also developed a new leap year system that used the solar year of 365.2422 days, added one leap day every four years, but dropped three leap days every 400 years to keep the calendars from drifting.”
Leap day traditions
One inadvertent tradition that comes with a leap year is full-time employees doing an extra day’s work for free.
That’s because if you’re paid a fixed annual salary, it doesn’t change based on how many days there are in the year.
If you’re paid by the hour, however, 29 February could be your lucky day, because if you’re working extra hours on the Thursday, you are entitled to claim those hours in the same way you do on any other workday.
Women proposing to men
This one’s a bit more fun.
29 February is known for being the day when women can propose to men.
Pic: iStock
You might be thinking: “But women can propose to whoever they want, whenever they want.”
But the tradition is believed to have started hundreds of years ago in an attempt to give women more power in their love lives.
Irish legend has it that St. Brigid of Kildare, a nun, complained to St. Patrick that maidens had to wait too long for potential suitors to propose.
So St. Patrick was forward-thinking enough to offer them one day every four years where women had the same proposal rights as men.
Proposal penalty
In 1208, the Scots not only adopted the proposal tradition, but also supposedly passed a law stating that any man who rejected a leap day proposal would have to pay a fine.
In other European countries, particularly in affluent areas, another penalty was that the proposal refuser would have to buy the woman he denied 12 pairs of gloves.
Bad luck?
There are certain nations where leap years and days get a bit of a bad rap.
Like in Greece, where superstition dictates that any marriage beginning during a leap year is destined for divorce, or in Italy, where Romans once believed February was a bad month that should be dedicated to the dead – therefore extending it was simply depressing.
Another Scottish superstition claims that anyone born on a leap day is doomed to have a life of suffering.
What it’s actually like to have a leap day birthday
Sky News has heard from a lot of people born on leap days, who are unofficially known as “leaplings”.
And thankfully, none of them appear to be having the sort of bad luck that Scottish superstitions prophesise.
Most 29 February babies are happy to be leaplings, Nicole Garcia tells us. Nicole, a mum of two from Michigan, is turning 11 this year, she says.
She’s given us her leap year birthday, of course, something that she often does when asked her age.
“I’d rather be younger,” she jokes.
Nicole is an admin of the Facebook group “February 29th, LEAP YEAR BABIES!”, which has almost 4,000 members who share the same birthday. And me, who asked to be let in.
If you’re a 29 Feb baby feeling a bit of leapling loneliness, it’s the place to be.
A baby born in Texas on the leap day in 2012. Pic: AP
When asked their age, many members either follow Nicole’s lead and let you do the maths, or they’ll give you two numbers – their actual age and their leapling one.
Pros and cons
Most of the feedback we got from the group’s members suggested they love having such a unique birthday, but that a surprising amount of people don’t actually have any understanding of what a leap day is.
“Some people don’t even believe you when you tell them. I just want people to know that my birthday does exist,” Nicole says.
Her birthday might only come around every four years on paper, but she has found a satisfying alternative.
“I decided to take an extra day. I celebrate on the 28th and the 1st,” she says.
A baby born on 29 February 2012 in Kansas. Pic: AP
A lot of leaplings do this, apparently, but the law can actually dictate when leaplings’ common-year birthdays are. In the UK, for example, they legally become a year older on 1 March.
Even though important documents like birth certificates and passports can say 29 February, going with your assigned alternative birthday can become a necessity when filling out online forms, because a lot of them don’t provide 29 February as an option.
It can be an issue in the flesh, too. Geri Rafferty, another leapling from the US, remembers turning 21 – the legal age for drinking in America – in 1985 and going to the shops on 28 February to buy a bottle of wine to share with a friend.
She said the store clerk looked at her ID, which said 29 February, and refused to sell her the alcohol, insisting that her birthday was the next day, even though there was no 29 Feb that year.
Geri said: “I was so mad! My friend bought me the wine and we had a great celebration. The next day [1 March], I returned to the same package store and picked out the same bottle of wine. I slammed it down on the counter and told the clerk that now I was ‘officially’ 21 and could buy my own alcohol! The celebration continued that night as well.”
Selina Paggett, who is turning 16 – or 64 – suggests her mum must have known about the trouble a leap day birthday would cause her in the future.
She says: “After my birth early morning (2.34am, 1960), my mum pleaded with her doctor to enter Feb 28th on my birth certificate instead of Feb 29th. The doc replied: ‘NO ma’am, I will not falsify this document.'”
Canadian Claudia Femia, who’s turning 13 (52), said her mum had the opposite experience and was asked to change her birthday to another day when she was born.
Two leap day world records
Being born on a leap day is already an anomaly, but here are some seriously rare occurrences logged by Guinness World Records.
A world record was presented to the Henriksen family in Norway in 1968 for most siblings born on a leap day – and no, it wasn’t triplets.
The three children of Karin and Henry Henriksen, Heidi (b.1960), Olav (1964) and Leif-Martin (1968) were all born on leap days.
Then there’s the record for most generations born on leap day, which was awarded to the Keoghs in 1996. The Irish family had Peter Anthony (1940), his son Peter Eric (1964) and his granddaughter Bethany Wealth (1996), who were all born on 29 February.
It is a moment few could have imagined just a few years ago but the Syrian president, Ahmed al Sharaa, has arrived in Washington for a landmark series of meetings, which will culminate in a face-to-face with Donald Trump at the White House.
His journey to this point is a remarkable story, and it’s a tale of how one man went from being a jihadist battlefield commander to a statesman on the global stage – now being welcomed by the world’s most powerful nation.
Mr Sharaa became leader of Syria after the fall of the Bashar al Assad regime in December last year.
Before that he went by the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al Jolani.
During Syria’s brutal civil war, he was the leader of the Nusra Front – a designated terror organisation, the Syrian branch of al Qaeda.
Back then, the thought of him setting foot on US soil and meeting a US president would have been unthinkable. There was a $10m reward for information leading to his capture.
Ahmed al Sharaa meeting Donald Trump in Riyadh in May. Pic: AP
So what is going on? Why is diplomacy being turned on its head?
After 14 years of conflict which started during the so-called Arab Spring, Syria is in a mess.
Mr Sharaa – as the head of the transitional government – is seen by the US as having the greatest chance of holding the country together and stopping it from falling back into civil war and failed state territory.
But to do that, Syria has to emerge from its pariah status and that’s what the US is gambling on and why it’s inclined to offer its support and a warm embrace.
Donald Trump, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and Ahmed al Sharaa in May. Pic: Saudi Press Agency
By endorsing Mr Sharaa, it is hoping he will shed his past and emerge as a leader for everyone and unite the country.
Holding him close also means it’s less likely that Iran and Russia will again be able to gain a strong strategic foothold in the country.
So, a man who was once an enemy of the US is now being feted as a potential ally.
Mr Sharaa meeting Vladimir Putin in Moscow in October. Pic: Reuters
There are big questions, though. He has rejected his extremist background, saying he did what he did because of the circumstances of the civil war.
But since he took power, there have been sectarian clashes. In July, fighting broke out between Druze armed groups and Bedouin tribal fighters in Sweida.
It was a sign of just how fragile the country remains and also raises concerns about his ability to be a leader for everyone.
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Can Syria’s new president be trusted?
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Nonetheless, Mr Sharaa is viewed as the best chance of stabilising Syria and by extension an important part of the Middle East.
Get Syria right, the logic goes, and the rest of the jigsaw will be easier to put and hold together.
The visit to Washington is highly significant and historic. It’s the first-ever official visit by a Syrian head of state since the country’s independence in 1946.
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Top shot: Syrian leader shows off his basketball skills
The meeting with Donald Trump is, though, the really big deal. The two men met in Riyadh in May but in the meeting later today they will discuss lifting sanctions – crucial to Syria’s post-war reconstruction – how Syria can help in the fight against Islamic State, and a possible pathway to normalisation of relations with Israel.
The optics will be fascinating as the US continues to engage with a former militant with jihadi links.
It’s a risk, but if successful, it could reshape Syria’s role in the region from US enemy to strong regional ally.
World
Madagascar’s new president Michael Randrianirina denies coup after taking office following Gen Z uprising
A Gen Z uprising has pushed Madagascar’s former leader Andry Rajoelina, not only out of office but out of the country.
In his place is Colonel Michael Randrianirina, who was sworn in as president of the island nation last month after his military unit joined the protesters.
Sky News’ Africa correspondent Yousra Elbagir sits down with the new leader.
The first question I ask Colonel Randrianirina, as he sits in an ornate mahogany chair in his military fatigues, is how it feels to be in the palace as president.
He sighs and sinks deeper into the chair. He looks humbled and struggles to find the words.
“How do I put it?” he says. “I am happy and it is also a great honour to have come to this palace to be able to help and support the Malagasy people in deep poverty.”
As commander of an elite non-combatant military unit, Corps d’Administration des Personnels et des Services de l’Armée de Terre (CAPSAT), the colonel rode a wave of Gen Z protests to the palace. On 11 October, he shared a video on social media instructing officers to disobey shoot-to-kill orders and support the movement.
The new Madagascan leader, Colonel Michael Randrianirina
At least 22 protesters have been killed and more than 100 injured after denouncing the power cuts and water shortages that have come to signify government corruption in the impoverished island nation.
Why did he share the pivotal video?
He says: “I am a military officer but I am also part of the people and I will return to the people. When you feel sorry for what the people are suffering from… they have been poor for so long and wealth has been looted – but you still shoot them and kill them. That was not why I entered the military of Madagascar, to kill people.”
Soon after his speech, soldiers allowed the young protesters rejecting then president Andry Rajoelina to occupy Place du 13 Mai Square on Independence Avenue in the heart of Antananarivo, the island nation’s capital.
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October: Madagascar’s president flees country after coup
Colonel Randrianirina paraded through a crowd and addressed them from the hatch of an armoured vehicle. “The president of the nation has to leave… If that does not happen,” he threatened, “we will see”.
After Mr Rajoelina fled Madagascar on 13 October, the National Assembly voted to impeach him for “desertion of duty”. Three days later, Colonel Randrianirina stood in fatigues in front of the palace. With officers by his side, he announced their seizure of power and the dissolution of the constitution and all government institutions outside of the National Assembly.
Shortly after, the African Union suspended Madagascar‘s membership on account of the military takeover.
A demonstration in Antananarivo last month. Pic: Reuters
In the palace as president, he insists that this is not a military coup.
“It is support for the people and the country and for us to not be prone to civil war – between the people – between the military officers and your needs, so you adjust helping to support the people to avoid this.
“We were not conducting any coup at all, it was the president [Rajoelina] himself who decided to leave the country.”
Sky News meets Colonel Randrianirina
United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres condemned “the unconstitutional change of government in Madagascar” and called for “the return to constitutional order and the rule of law,” when reports of a military takeover first circulated on 16 October. The day we met the new president, he had just been congratulated by France’s President Emmanuel Macron.
Colonel Randrianirina is promising elections in 18 to 24 months, after what he calls a “refoundation and recovery” of the country – a process he admits might take a long time.
Observers are concerned that elections will be postponed and the new president will become another strongman, but Gen Z organisers are holding on to faith that this hard-earned outcome is worth it.
‘We were living under a dictatorship’
I asked a group of five young organisers if they have concerns that the president will become another dictator, just like previous Malagasy rulers who ascended to power off the back of a popular uprising. Ousted president Mr Rajoelina came into power after protests in 2009 that also ended in a CAPSAT-supported coup.
Police patrolling the streets during last month’s protests. Pic: AP
University student Ratsirarisoa Nomena told us: “The new president is not a dictator… he is listening to the people and he is validated by the people.
“We as students also validated him – he is not a dictator because the motivation of the army is from the people for the people.
“We were living under dictatorship. There was no freedom of expression and it was very hard to fight for that in Madagascar. We had to face being injured and losing our lives and the lives of our fellow students. Malagasy citizens who fought with us lost their lives too. This is what we went through – to me, we are halfway to victory.”
Their president is aware of their support and does not credit Gen Z alone for his place in the palace.
“Generation Z are part of the reason [I am here] but the full Malagasy people really wanted change at the time we are speaking,” Mr Randrianirina told me. “The Malagasy people have been suffering for so long and deprived of fundamental rights – no access to water supply and electricity, facing insecurity.
“Malagasy people, including the Gen Z, government officials and trade unions really wanted change so it is the whole Malagasy people that supported me to this point.”
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Across Africa, young people are showing their disapproval of the old guard.
Gen Z protesters have made their mark in Tanzania, Kenya, Cameroon, Morocco, Mozambique and Nigeria in 2025 alone – denouncing disputed elections and the corruption impacting their futures.
Is the Gen Z coup of Madagascar a warning for old leaders on a young continent?
“I don’t know what to say about the other countries, but I know my own country,” Mr Randrianirina says.
“If tomorrow the people of Madagascar hate me, then I will leave this palace.”
Two people have died and more than one million people evacuated after a storm bearing down on the Philippines intensified into a super typhoon and made landfall on Sunday.
Fung-wong started battering eastern and central parts of the country, causing power outages, and forcing President Ferdinand Marcos Jr to declare a state of emergency.
One person drowned in Catanduanes and firefighters recovered the body of a woman trapped under the debris of a collapsed home in Catbalogan City, officials said.
A satellite image shows Storm Fung-wong, which has intensified into a super typhoon. Pic: CSU/CIRA & JMA/JAXA/Handout via Reuters
A man walks in the rain with an umbrella as Typhoon Fung-wong approaches, in Cauayan, Isabela, Philippines. Pic: Reuters
Evacuations under way in Quezon province. Pic: Philippine Coast Guard via AP
An evacuation centre in Manila. Pic: Reuters
Packing sustained winds of 115mph and gusts of up to 140mph, Super Typhoon Fung-wong made landfall in Aurora province in central Luzon.
Those living in high-risk villages in northeastern provinces were told to evacuate, including in Bicol, a coastal region vulnerable to Pacific cyclones and mudflows from Mayon, one of the country’s most active volcanoes.
Defence secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr warned Fung-wong could affect a vast expanse of the country, including the capital Manila, and Cebu, the central province hit hardest by the deadly Typhoon Kalmaegi just days ago.
More than 200 people were killed in the earlier typhoon, and around 100 are still missing.
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Filipinos stranded on roofs amid Typhoon floods
Mr Teodoro Jr urged residents to heed evacuation orders, warning refusing to comply was dangerous and unlawful.
“We ask people to pre-emptively evacuate so that we don’t end up having to conduct rescues at the last minute, which could put the lives of police, soldiers, firefighters and coast guard personnel at risk,” he said in a public address.
More than 30 million people could be exposed to hazards posed by Fung-wong, the Office of Civil Defence said.
The projection of the route that will be taken by Super Typhoon Fung-wong by Japan’s national weather agency. Pic: JMA
In Isabela in northern Luzon, dozens of families were sheltering at a basketball court repurposed as an evacuation centre.
“We’re scared,” said Christopher Sanchez, 50, who fled his home with his family. “We’re here with our grandchildren and our kids. The whole family is in the evacuation area.”
Nearly 400 domestic and international flights have been cancelled, according to the civil aviation regulator.
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Deadly tornado tears through southern Brazil
Deadly tornado in Brazil
Meanwhile, a powerful tornado ripped through the southern state of Parana in Brazil – killing at least six and injuring more than 750 people, state officials said on Saturday.
The tornado left a trail of destruction, downing trees, overturning vehicles and damaging buildings.
Roads were also blocked and power lines damaged, with authorities saying around 1,000 people were displaced,
“We will continue to assist the people of Parana and provide all the help needed,” President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva wrote on X.
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