"Unraveling the Mystery of Leap Years: A 2024 Primer"

Leap years exist because it takes 365.2422 days for Earth to orbit the sun, resulting in a quarter-day discrepancy each year. An animation by planetary scientist James O’Donoghue illustrates this, showing that without leap years, the calendar would drift over time. The current leap year system, established by Pope Gregory, includes exceptions to maintain accuracy, such as skipping leap years divisible by 100 unless they're also divisible by 400. While some propose a new calendar without leap days, the current chaotic calendar has its merits, and for now, we get an extra day this year due to the leap year system.