Sync the calendar with the seasons

Buerke said that what he finds most astonishing about the topic of leap year is what took place when there was a transition from the use of the Julian calendar to the Georgian calendar in the late 16th century.

Use of the Julian calendar ended on Oct. 4, 1582, and the Gregorian calendar was adopted on Oct. 15, 1582, so the day after the 4th was called the 15th.

“Scientists discovered it’s not exactly 365.25 days for the Earth to make a complete orbit around the sun and had to eliminate 10 days from history to get the calendar back on track,” Buerke said.

The actual time it takes is 365.2425 days, he said.

Buerke said that many of us aren’t aware of this elimination of days from history in countries that followed the pope and his decree.

“It is one of the more remarkable illustrations of that relationship between government and science,” he said. “Although popes didn’t make laws that governed everyday life, they were considered higher authority than government.”

What motivated the calendar change was the fact that a big part of society was practicing its faith and observed holidays and feasts. It was also a way to sync the calendar with the seasons.

“They had to go tell everyone when to go to church to celebrate Christmas and Easter,” he said of the pope’s motivation to establish the Gregorian calendar. “When Pope Gregory (XIII) made it the decree that this was to happen, that was the law for all countries under the influence of the Catholic Church.”

However, countries such as England that were part of the Protestant Reformation continued using the Julian calendar. It was in the mid-18th century when England adopted the Gregorian calendar because, according to Buerke, the country realized the Julian calendar was falling behind and didn’t make sense because it wasn’t in sync with the seasons.

“In 1752 England made the change to the Gregorian calendar,” Buerke said. “Their Sept. 2, 1752. was followed by Sept. 14, 1752.”

Calendar Act 1752

That means England lost 11 days in its history when the Calendar Act

Leap year babies

For babies born on Feb. 29, known leapers, leaplings or leapsters, Buerke said the rarity makes it something special for those whose birthday only officially comes every four years.

“It’s sort of amusing,” he said. “It really stands out as something special for that person.”

When he thinks of leap year babies, he is reminded of the musical “The Pirates of Penzance” by Arthur Sullivan and William Schwenck Gilbert from the late 1800s.

“They used that very idea for comedic purposes,” Buerke said. “It’s a source of amusement for a lot of people. Leap year babies are different from everyone else in a good way.”

Scientific side of calendars

Buerke, who teaches the scientific side of calendars in his astronomy class at Albright, said that more people in general are focused on the folklore surrounding leap year instead of using it as a time to reflect on astronomy’s important place in our day to day lives.

“People get enthusiastic about folklore because they like to tell fun stories,” he said. “The science side of it is just as interesting and fascinating and it has just as many stories as the made up folklore side.”

MEDIANEWS GROUP FILE PHOTO The first Leap Year baby born at Abington Memorial Hospital in 2016 was Luke Michael Keller, shown in this photo as he is held by his parents, Stephanie and Keith Keller Feb. 29, 2016.