The 29th of Februar is a Leap Day or Schalttag - a day is which added to the calendar every four years to make up for the difference between the length of a normal year and the Earth’s orbit around the sun.

Thus the year 2008 is a Leap Year or Schaltjahr.

There are also Leap Seconds - Schaltsekunden - which compensate for the small difference that only modern atomic clocks can detect.

But did you know, that in some countries there used to be a 30th of February?

To find out where and to hear a simple explanation and a short discussion in German, listen to the podcast:

(Press the “play” button to listen to the podcast)

Download the MP3 file | Comment in the forum

Subscribe to the podcast