Happy Leap Day, Houston

Leap Day is a special in the astronomical and chronological worlds. A day is added to February, typically every four years, to keep the our calendar in sync with the Earth's trip around the sun.

The common year must meet three criteria to be considered a leap year.

1. Every year that is divisible by four is a leap year;
2. of those years, if it can be divided by 100, it is NOT a leap year, unless
3. the year is divisible by 400. Then it is a leap year.

Happy Birthday to those of you born on February 29th. You're in good company. Ja Rule, Tony Robbins and the late Dinah Shore-uh were all leap day babies.

Party like it's February twenty-nine, people. The opportunity will not present itself again until the next leap year in 2012.
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Photo: Flick User JasonRogers.