Details for the Year 2012 Year2012 Leap Year?? Yes Days in Year366 Previous Leap Year2008 Next Leap Year2016 Leap Years Near 2012 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024 2028 2032 What is a Leap Year? A leap year has 366 days instead of the usual 365, with an extra day � February 29 (Leap Day) � added to keep the calendar year synchronized with the astronomical year. Leap Year Rules (Gregorian Calendar) The year must be divisible by 4. Exception: If the year is also divisible by 100, it is not a leap year� Exception to the exception: If divisible by 400, it is a leap year. Examples: 2000 ? leap (�400), 1900 ? not leap (�100 but not �400), 2024 ? leap (�4), 2100 ? not leap. Why do we need leap years? The Earth takes approximately 365.2422 days to orbit the Sun. Without leap years, after 100 years the calendar would be off by ~24 days, causing seasons to drift significantly from their calendar dates. Leap Day: February 29 People born on February 29 are called leaplings or leap-day babies. They officially celebrate their birthday on February 28 or March 1 in non-leap years. The probability of being born on February 29 is approximately 1 in 1,461. Julian vs Gregorian Calendar The older Julian calendar made every year divisible by 4 a leap year, without the century exception. This caused a drift of ~13 days by the 20th century, which is why the Gregorian reform was introduced in 1582.
