Leap Year 2008

I have to make a leap year post! Here's a leap year quiz I found on line --

1. Who first proclaimed the last day of February to be a leap year day?
A. Pharaoh Ramses II of Egypt
B. Julius Caesar
C. Pope Gregory XIII
D. King Richard II of England

2. U.S. presidential elections occur every four years, but two presidents -- Thomas Jefferson and William McKinley -- won election in years that were not Leap Years. Why?

3. Which of these nations once had a Feb. 30 on its calendar?
A) France
B) Sweden
C) Russia
D) Iceland

4. What historical figure once used a celestial event on Leap Year Day to great advantage?

5. European countries gradually switched to the Gregorian calendar, which standardized our current Leap Year system. Because different calendars existed at one time, two famous authors have the same date of death, but didn't die on the same day. Who were they?

6. Leap Year Day plays a crucial role in which of the following stage plays?
A. "Richard III" by Shakespeare
B. "A Marriage Proposal" by Anton Chekhov
C. "The Pirates of Penzance" by Gilbert and Sullivan
D. "Death of a Salesman" by Arthur Miller

7. A tradition once held that women may propose marriage only on Leap Year Day, but such proposals from women have grown more common regardless of the date. What well-known male athlete from the Cincinnati area famously accepted a marriage proposal from a female celebrity?

8. On Leap Year Day 1972, Don and Nancy Brazelton of Greenhills became first-time parents when Mrs. Brazelton gave birth to their son, Christopher, in a Volkswagen Beetle on the way to a Cincinnati hospital. To commemorate the blessed event, Volkswagen of America gave them what?
A. A free 1973 Volkswagen Beetle
B. A free set of tires
C. A $50 savings bond
D. Nothing

9: What's the name for someone born on Leap Year Day?


_____________________________________
ANSWERS
1. B.

2. The last year of a century isn't a Leap Year unless it's evenly divisible by 400. Jefferson was elected in 1800; McKinley in 1900.

3. B. In 1712, Sweden added two Leap Year Days to its calendar during the transition to the Gregorian calendar.

4. Using an almanac, Christopher Columbus successfully "predicted" a lunar eclipse on Feb. 29, 1504, convincing natives in what's now Jamaica to cooperate with him.

5. William Shakespeare and Miguel Cervantes, author of Don Quixote, on April 23, 1616. Shakespeare's death on the Gregorian calendar used in England today would have been May 3, 1616.

6. C. The character Frederic is apprenticed to pirates until his 21st birthday, but he's only had five birthdays because he was born on Feb. 29.

7. Baseball star David Justice, a graduate of Covington Latin High School, accepted a marriage proposal from actress Halle Berry in 1993. They divorced three years later. Other women who proposed to their husbands include Ruth (from the Biblical Book of Ruth), Queen Victoria and Patti LaBelle.

8. C. An urban myth held that Volkswagen gave free cars to parents of children born in VW's.

9. A leapling.


Hope you enjoy the Leap Year!!

I do know someone who has a birthday today. My #1 son's grandpa is 92 years young! And I mean, young. Whatever it is one needed to figure out about how to make the best of great genes -- this man did. He is as witty and sharp as he's always been. Now the body, well, that's not such an easy thing, but still - he takes care of everything on his own. A really great guy, father of 8, husband to a saint, I've lost track of how many grandchildren and greats, but I'll find out.

It's a chilly day here in Sunny Florida, and I will be making a trip with #1 son, and my mom to Eutis! Two of my little nephews are playing their first competition baseball games this weekend!