Celebrating the 29th of February - Leap Year 2008

Were you born in a Leap year? I am sure you don't know. The Leap Year Calculator is a great place to find out whether you were born in a Leap year. It is so much fun. Here is what you can do to remember this special day. Write to an old friend then bring it to the post office and ask them to hand stamp it with the date.

The Leap Day - 29th of February !
The 29th of February, or the Leap Day has been associated with age-old traditions, superstitions and folklore. It occurs every four years in years evenly divisible by four except for centenary years not divisible by 400. A leap day is more likely to occur on Mondays or Wednesdays. Leap Day and the events because of Leap Day, are often mistaken for Sadie Hawkins Day, but that is in November. The only similarity is in the fact that the woman has the opportunity to do the asking. February 29 is NOT Sadie Hawkins Day. It is Leap Year Day, or simply, Leap Day.

Leap into the depths of your brain with a Leap Year Quiz

1. When did the idea of Leap Year begin?
2. What’s the Leap Year capital of the world?
3. When was the last Leap Year?
4. February 29th is also called Sadie Hawkins Day—True or False?
5. People born on Leap Day are called _______________?
6. When do these people celebrate their birthdays each year?
7. What are the chances of actually being born on Leap Year Day?
8. People with leap year birthdays are what percent of the population?

Answers:

1. 45 BC
2. Anthony, Texas
3. 2004
4. False
5. Leapers
6. Either February 28th or March 1st, it’s their choice
7. The odds are 1 in 1,461 8. Less than one percent

So what ARE you going to do with this EXTRA day ? How do people celebrate the Leap Day?
Here are some Leap year traditions.......

Wedding Proposals
It's an old Irish tradition for women to ask men to marry them on Leap Day. In Scotland, if a man refused a lady's proposal, he had to either give her a kiss, a pair of gloves or a silk dress. As the story goes, the tradition of women romantically pursuing men in leap years began in 5th century Ireland, when St. Bridget complained to St. Patrick about the fair sex having to wait for men to propose. Patrick finally relented and set February 29 aside as the day set aside allowing women the right to ask for a man's hand in marriage.

Leap Day Cocktail
This one was created at London's Savoy Hotel for a Leap Day party in 1928.

2 ounces gin
1/2 ounce Grand Marnier
1/2 ounce sweet vermouth
1/4 ounce
fresh lemon juice
1 lemon twist, for garnish

Stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Add the garnish.

Leap Day Smoothie

1 scoop of vanilla ice cream or plain yogurt
1 banana
1 tablespoon of
peanut butter
1 cup of ice

Blend till frothy. Enjoy !

Where's the coldest spot in the universe?

Where's the coldest spot in the universe? By Tom Shachtman
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/12359501.html
Smithsonian magazine, January 2008

This week it felt like Chicago was the COLDEST SPOT in the universe ! But Physicists in Massachusetts come to grips with the lowest possible temperature: absolute zero

Where's the coldest spot in the universe? Not on the moon, where the temperature plunges to a mere minus 378 Fahrenheit. Not even in deepest outer space, which has an estimated background temperature of about minus 455°F. As far as scientists can tell, the lowest temperatures ever attained were recently observed right here on earth.

The record-breaking lows were among the latest feats of ultracold physics, the laboratory study of matter at temperatures so mind-bogglingly frigid that atoms and even light itself behave in highly unusual ways. Electrical resistance in some elements disappears below about minus 440°F, a phenomenon called superconductivity. At even lower temperatures, some liquefied gases become "superfluids" capable of oozing through walls solid enough to hold any other sort of liquid; they even seem to defy gravity as they creep up, over and out of their containers.

.......for more go here

A good read !