LEAP YEAR: A YEAR FOR LADIES TO PROPOSE

MBABANE – Ladies, you can propose to your men this year. This is because for European traditionalists, just once every four years, on February 29 (Leap Day), a woman is allowed to take her destiny in her own hands and ask a man to marry her.

This tradition is thought to date back to the 5th century when, legend has it, an Irish nun called St Brigid complained to St Patrick that women had to wait too long for their suitors to propose.

So, they struck a deal. St Patrick decreed this one day in February, which occurs once every four years, when women are allowed to propose.
According to www.timeanddate.com, women either have to wear breeches or a scarlet petticoat to pop the question, according to tradition.

Additionally, in many European countries, tradition dictates that any gentleman who refuses a woman’s proposal on a Leap Day should pay a penalty.
The fine could be paid in the form of a new gown, money, or 12 pairs of gloves for the lady.
People born on Leap Day are called ‘leaplings’ or ‘leapers’.

The last Leap Day was on February 29, 2016.
Leap days are needed to keep our calendar in alignment with the Earth’s revolutions around the Sun.

It takes the earth approximately 365.242189 days – or 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 45 seconds – to circle once around the Sun. This is called a tropical year. Technically, though, you’d have to be one lucky person to be born on this day.
“We say lucky because the chances of being born on a Leap Day are 1 in 1 461,” it reads further.

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