February 29 in Pop Culture History

February 29th History, Trivia, and Fun Facts

February 29th History Highlights

• 46 BC – Julius Caesar declared the first Leap Day.
• The odds of being born on February 29th are 1 in 1,461.
• 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 46 seconds is how long it takes for the Earth to go around the Sun.
• 1288 – The concept of allowing women to propose marriage to men may have begun, in Scotland, with five-year-old Queen Margaret of Scotland.
• 1796 – The Jay Treaty between the United States and Great Britain was enacted, facilitating ten years of peaceful trade between both countries.
• February 29, 1948 Birthday (fictional) Gary/Jerry/Larry Gergich, Parks & Recreation, TV.
• If you were born on February 29th,
  You were likely conceived the week of… June 7th, or 8th (prior year)

Is Leap Day Every Four Years?

Almost. In our calendar, years that are divisible by 100, but not by 400, do not contain a leap day. Thus, 1500, 1700, 1800, and 1900 did not contain a leap day- neither will 2100, 2200, and 2300. Conversely, 1600 and 2000 did and 2400 will.

Thirty days hath September,
April, June and November;
All the rest have thirty-one
Save February, she alone
Hath eight days and a score
Til leap year gives her one day more.

Leap Day Cocktail:
1 dash lemon juice
2/3 gin
1/6 Grand Marnier
1/6 sweet vermouth

February 29th is…

February 29th Birthday Quotes

“It’s Leap Day. Real life is for March.” – 30 Rock

“You are now at a crossroads. Forget your past. Who are you now? Who have you decided you really are now? Don’t think about who you have been. Who are you now? Who have you decided to become? Make this decision consciously. Make it carefully. Make it powerfully. Then act upon it.”
– Anthony Robbins

“Every leap year I like to jump. It’s a good way to get my daily exercise in every four years.”
– Jarod Kintz

“Those that weather the storm are the great ones.”
– DJ Khaled

“I learned a long time ago: You’re in the entertainment business. You’re not in the reality business. One has absolutely nothing to do with the other.”
– Dennis Farina

“Happy Leap Day. A day where ‘this time last year’ and ‘this time next year’ does not apply.”
– Anonymous

“I’d like people to remember that I really tried everything within my range of reality. And that whatever I did, I did with all my heart.”
– Dinah Shore

“Leap day — it’s an extra day to do business, a bonus profit opportunity.”
– Jack Donaghy, 30 Rock

“Bebop has set music back twenty years.”
– Tommy Dorsey

“…and I’ve never taken up a sport just because it was a social fad.”
– Dinah Shore

February 29th Birthdays

Heidi Henriksen was born on 2/29/1960, her brother Olav four years later on 2/29/1964, and baby Leif-Martin four years after that on 2/29/1968.

1736 – Ann Lee, English-American religious leader, founded the Shakers (died in 1784)
1812 – Sir James Wilson, Premier of Tasmania (died February 29, 1880)
1892 – Augusta Savage, American sculptor (died in 1962)
1896 – William A. Wellman, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (died in 1975)
1904 – Jimmy Dorsey, American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader (died in 1957)
1916 – Dinah Shore, American singer and actress (died in 1994)
1916 – Leonard Shoen, founder of U-Haul Corp. (died in 1999)
1924 – Al Rosen, American baseball player and manager (died in 2015)
1936 – Alex Rocco, American actor (died in 2015)
1944 – Dennis Farina, American police officer and actor (died in 2013)
1956 – Aileen Wuornos, American serial killer (died in 2002)
1960 – Khaled, Algerian singer-songwriter (not DJ Khaled or Kahlid)
1960 – Anthony Robbins, American motivational speaker and writer
1972 – Antonio Sabàto, Jr., Italian-American model and actor
1976 – Ja Rule (Jeffrey Atkins), American rapper and actor
1984 – Mark Foster, American singer-songwriter

February 29th History

1692 – The first witches were arrested in Salem Massachusetts.

1892 – St. Petersburg, Florida was incorporated.

1936 – Baby Snooks, played by Fanny Brice, debuted on the radio show The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air.

1940 – Hattie McDaniel became the first African American to win an Academy Award, for her role as Mammy in Gone With The Wind. It won 8 Oscars overall.

1944 – Dorothy McElroy Vredenburgh of Alabama became the first woman to be appointed secretary of a national political party. She was appointed to the Democratic National Committee.

February 29, 1948 Birthday (fictional) Gary/Jerry/Larry Gergich, Parks & Recreation, TV

1960 (Eathquake) Agadir , Morocca, killed over 3,000 people.

1960 – The Family Circus comic strip by Bil Keane debuted.

1960 – The first Playboy Club opened, in Chicago.

February 29, 19** Birthday (fictional) Kal-El, Superman, DC Comics

1992 – #1 Hit February 29, 1992 – March 20, 1992: Mr. Big – To Be With You

2012 – Tokyo Skytree construction completed. It is the tallest tower in the world, at 634 meters high, and second tallest artificial structure on Earth, next to Burj Khalifa.

Today’s Random Trivia and Shower Thoughts

A group of Moose is called a Herd.

John Wayne – Real Name: Marion Morrison

Mount Everest is 29,029 feet high, or about 5.5 miles high. That’s a distance a car on a freeway can cover in just 5 minutes.

Guardians of the Galaxy’s Groot first appeared in Tales to Astonish #13, in 1960.

The World’s Shortest Escalator is located in Kawasaki, Japan. It is 2.7 feet tall (83.4 cm), and only has five steps.

If two centaurs had a baby, it would have a 1/4 chance to be pure human or pure horse. #howgeneswork

Roman Senator Cato the Elder would end every one of his speeches with “Carthago delenda est” which translates to, “Furthermore, I consider that Carthage must be destroyed”.

Harry Potter’s wand waving magics seems silly and impossible to me, but Yoda’s hand waving jedi force seems totally doable if I try hard enough.

Once you realize that ketchup is made with vinegar you’ll never not taste it.

Antimatter was first predicted in 1928 by English physicist Paul Dirac, who New Scientist magazine called “the greatest British theorist since Sir Isaac Newton.”

“This is no ordinary apple, it’s a magic wishing apple.” – Snow White And The Seven Dwarves #moviequotes

Who’s crazier? A man who believes he has a talking dog, OR a man who ignores consistently great advice from his dog?

More Pop Culture History Resources

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• Award Winners
• Conception Songs