Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Leap years

Did you know that, whilst leap years occur every four years, if they fall on the first year of a century (i.e. 2000, 1900), it is only a leap year if the number is divisible by four? So 2000 was, but 1900 wasn't.

Fascinating, eh?

5 comments:

  1. yes i did know that. but then i am a geek.

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  2. Anonymous8:51 pm

    1900/4 = 475

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  3. Thanks Ally. Yes, I am indeed a muppet. The century has to be divisible by 400, not four. As any cretin can work out, every century will be divisible by four as it is just a multiplication of 100, which is itself divisible by four.

    I was going to edit the post, but I'll take it like a man instead.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leap_years

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  4. Anonymous9:46 pm

    I wasn't meaning to be pedantic; I was just concerned that I was missing a trick somewhere.

    I'm glad you've clarified and I can sleep soundly again.

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  5. I would hate to feel responsible for making your head hurt through my publishing of unsubstantiated facts willy nilly.... I didn't think you were being pedantic - such is the world of web 2.0, we internationally renowned web publishers rely on your feedback to ensure the quality of our information is maintained. So a big thank you from all at Tattie Towers.

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