'Leap Year Babies' will commemorate this year's unique birthday on February 29, which comes around once every four years. The 32 famous leaplings who were born on Leap Day are listed below.
Leap Day is a shared birthday for almost 5 million individuals worldwide, according to the Associated Press. This figure represents 0.06 percent of the world's population of 8 billion.
The history of leap years dates back more than 2,000 years. This was done in an effort to better synchronize the solar calendar with the normal Gregorian calendar and account for the Earth's orbital period, which is precisely 365.2422 days.
The most widely used civil calendar in the world, the Gregorian calendar, counts leap years as having 366 days rather than 365. An astronomical year is slightly shorter than 365 days and 6 hours, thus this extra day—known as Leap Day—adjusts for this fact. Leap Days will occur again in 2028, with the most recent one taking place in 2020.
In New Zealand, the official birthday of ‘Leap year babies’ falls on February 28 in common years; in other countries like the United Kingdom, these people with birthdays on a rare date have to wait until March 1.
Now, let's take a look at 32 famous people who were born on Leap Day.
Among the Indians born on Leap Day are:
On February 29, 1896, freedom fighter and former Indian prime minister Morarji Desai was born. The date of his death was April 10, 1995. Morarji Desai lived for 99 years, yet only celebrated 24 birthdays during his lifetime.
The 29th of February 1976 marked the birth of Indian shooter Prakash Nanjappa, an Olympian and recipient of the Arjuna Award. A silver medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, bronze medals at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games, the 2016 ISSF World Cup in Korea, and the 2013 Changwon World Cup are just a few of the honors bestowed upon him.
Born on February 29, 1904, Rukmini Devi was a renowned Bharatanatyam dancer and the creator of Kalakshetra.
The following other well-known people celebrate their birthdays on Leap Day:
Ja Rule (rapper)
Tony Robbins (motivational speaker and life coach)
Peter Scanavino (actor, stars in "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit")
Mark Foster (lead singer of the band Foster the People)
Dennis Farina (actor, known for his roles in "Crime Story" and "Law & Order")
Dinah Shore (singer, talk show host)
Jessie Usher (actor, co-starred in "Independence Day: Resurgence")
Ken Foree (actor, best known from the horror film "Dawn of the Dead")
Saul Williams (rapper)
Jimmy Dorsey (big band leader, saxophonist)
Cam Ward (hockey player)
Cullen Jones (Olympic medal-winning swimmer)
Al Rosen (Major League Baseball player)
Henri Richard (hockey player)
Monte Kiffin (football coach)
Pedro Sánchez (prime minister of Spain)
Bart Stupak (former U.S. representative)
Alex Rocco (actor, played Moe Greene in "The Godfather")
Jack Lousma (NASA astronaut)
Sir Lucian Grainge (businessman, chief executive officer of Universal Music Group)
Michèle Morgan (French film actor)
James Mitchell (actor, best known for the soap opera "All My Children")
Gioachino Antonio Rossini (composer)
Joss Ackland (British actor)
Pepper Martin (Major League Baseball player)
William Wellman (Oscar-winning screenwriter and film director)
Taylor Twellman (soccer player)
Jessica Long (Paralympic swimmer)
Chris Conley (Singer and guitar player in the band Saves the Day)
