leap day

60’2024 (2024-02-29) – Leap day

Posted on by What did you learn in School today ?

Today, I learned about:

We have come to that day every four years when we are blessed with one extra day. Some think it is good, while others do not. If you have a fixed monthly salary, it means that you are working one day for free!

In my post eight years ago, I explained the reason for why we have the 29th of February every four years, you may revisit it here: 60’2016 (2016-02-29)

You may remember that in my post of 356’2023 (2023-12-22) I showed a picture of Inhotim, the outdoor art museum that is considered to be one of the biggest of its sort, blendid in with a variety of bothany. Unfortunately, time has leapfrogged me, but here is finally more interesting facts about it. The name Inhotim is said to be derived from a former owner of the land where Inhotim is located today, a Mr. Tim, which the local dialect transformed to Senhor Tim -> Nhô Tim -> Inhotim, as simple as that. But it was thanks to a Brazilian mining magnat, Bernardo Paz, who bought the land to preserve it from exploitation and also bought contemporary works of art, that Inhotim could be created. He started with that feat in 2004 and could finally open the museum in 2006. In reference #1 below is the complete story.

You may have heard the name of Brumadinho, the municipality where Inhotim is located, in another, unfortunately terrible context. On 25’2019 (2019-01-25), a dam of a mine in Brumadinho broke and it led to a disaster where 270 people lost their lives and vast pieces of land, both built and unihibited, were totally destroyed. Luckily, Inhotim is located on a higher altitude, so the dam catastrophe did not affect it. More about the dam tragedy can be seen in reference #2 below.

Finally here are some nice pictures from Inhotim:

Pictures from Inhotim, taken during the visit Adriana and I paid there on 342’2023 (2023-12-08). This museum of contemporary art and bothany is fantastic and when one needs to recharge the batteries then there is this delicious restaurant demonstrating what makes the state of Minas Gerais such a fabulous place to visit, famous for its food and drinks.

Today’s header photo was taken by my friend Neide who recently visited the Southwest corner of Brazil. It shows the waters from Rio Uruguay falling down in a spectacular extension, in the so called Salto do Yucumã. More about it will come next month!

That’s what I learned in school today!

Ref.:

1: Inhotim

2: Brumadinho dam disaster

*: What did you learn in school today?

2020-02-29 (Leap day!)

Posted on by What did you learn in School today ?

Today, I learned about:

Exactly four years have gone since I last wrote about what a leap day is, 2016-02-29.

And here we are again, four years older, and maybe even wiser! I was thinking about the poor guy that was born on 1896-02-29. He celebrated his birthday on the correct date of the year only when there were eight candles on his birthday cake. How come? Well, as you know a leap year normally happens only once every four years, but when the century is on its first year, then it must also be evenly divided by 400, i.e. 1600, 2000, 2400 etc. But then, he knew that if he lived that long, he would still celebrate it on the correct day with 12, 16, 20, 24, … candles!

‘Can you use an hourglass’?

Finally, here comes the solution to the riddle posted back in 2019-12-31:

You start with two loaded hourglasses at the same time. After 7 min, when the small hourglass is done, you turn it over and restart it.

After 11 min, when the big hourglass is done, you leave it as it is. But now you turn over the small hourglass, which has had a second run of 4 min, and let it run for the third time until it stops.

Voilà, you have now accomplished the task!

That’s what I learned in school !

Ref.:

*: What did you learn in school today ?

2016-02-29 (Monday)

Posted on by What did you learn in School today ?

Today, I learned that:

A day like today happens only once every 4 years, because the time it takes for the Earth to complete its orbit around the Sun in 365 days, 5 hours, 49 minutes, and 16 seconds. However, whereas a normal year is 365 days, adding one more day every 4 years results in adjusting that difference too much. So, during the course of 400 years, every fourth year receives an extra day, called leap day, with exception of the three initial years of the centuries, which are not exactly divisible by 400. This means that year 2000 was a leap year, but not 1900, 2100, 2200, 2300, 2500, etc.

The leap day was introduced in Rome already in the 1st century BC. Originally, and for a long time, it was February 24 that was considered the leap day. It was still that way when I lived in Sweden, but nowadays it is February 29 also there and in the rest of the EU, a change that occurred in year 2000.

6way

The local politicians in the city of Paranavaí, state of Paraná, Brazil, agreed that “the more the better”, so on a leap day some years ago they decided to institute 6-way crossings in the city center.

Finally, according to a tradition that is said to go back to the Irish patron, Saint Patrick, today is the day for a woman to propose marriage to a man. So if you read this before midnight, there may still be time to achieve what you desire. Right, Linda?

… That’s what I learned in school !

Refs.:

1: Leap day

2: Skottår

+: What did you learn in school today ?