Pope Gregory XIII authorized some tweaks to keep the calendar from very slowly drifting back out of sync with the seasons. The solution was simple: century years — 1700, 1800, etc. — are only leap ...

But the modern Leap Day as we know it traces its roots back to ancient Rome. Romulus, the first king of Rome, established the Roman Republican calendar around 738 B.C., decreeing that a year began ...

Years like 1700, 1800 and 1900 are only 365 days long, rather than 366. Leap day babies The chances of having a birthday on a leap day are about one in 1,461, according to BBC.

If January felt like endless, February may be refreshing since it's only 28 days long: Thank the Romans for that oddity. Prior to the Gregorian and even Julian calendars, Roman King Numa Pompilius ...