Those born on any of the 365 days of a regular calendar year might take their birth date for granted. But for people born on February 29, the celebration becomes all the more notable given their actual birthday date comes around just once every four years.

Lifetime Newtown resident Linda J. Connor will be 64 this February 29. That is right — this will be her Sweet 16 birthday. Ask the average 15-year-old how they might feel about waiting a half century to celebrate their 16th birthday and you might get some funny looks.

“It was always a fun thing,” Ms Connor (whose maiden name is Johnson) said of having a February 29 birthday. “When I had kids, it was hilarious because they couldn’t wait until they were older than Mommy.”

Ms Connor, whose mother and grandparents were also lifetime Newtown residents, has three children, all of whom live in town: Sarah with her husband, Brian De Jesus, along with their six month old; Eileen Connor; and Roger B. Connor. They all have the rare distinction of being older than their mom — well, sort of.

That leads us to the question, what date does a February 29 baby celebrate their birthday — February 28 or March 1?

When growing up, Ms Connor’s cousin celebrated a March 1 birthday, so the obvious move was to break out the cake and candles for Ms Connor on February 28; this way, they each had their own special day.

According to timeanddate.com, “Many countries have laws defining which date a person born on February 29 comes of age in legal terms. For instance in New Zealand, the official birthday falls on February 28 in common years; in other countries like the United Kingdom, leap year babies have to wait until March 1.”

Ms Connor recalls being turned away at a bar when she turned 18 — then the legal age to drink in Connecticut — because she was not officially 18, due to the calendar that year.

It used to be easy to keep track of her February 29 opportunities to celebrate, Ms Connor said, because hers coincided with the Olympic Games. That did not last as the winter and summer Olympics were switched to an alternating schedule every two years.

How many people have an official birthday only once every four years? According to a thought.com article “Leap Day Statistics” by Courtney Taylor, updated January 29, 2019, less than 0.07 percent of the world’s population was born on February 29. Given current population data from the US Census Bureau, only about 205,000 people in the US have a February 29 birthday. For the world’s population, approximately 4.8 million have a February 29 birthday.

According to history.com, “Nearly every four years, we add an extra day to the calendar in the form of February 29, also known as Leap Day. Put simply, these additional 24 hours are built into the calendar to ensure that it stays in line with the Earth’s movement around the Sun. While the modern calendar contains 365 days, the actual time it takes for Earth to orbit its star is slightly longer — roughly 365.2421 days. The difference might seem negligible, but over decades and centuries that missing quarter of a day per year can add up. To ensure consistency with the true astronomical year, it is necessary to periodically add in an extra day to make up the lost time and get the calendar back in sync with the heavens.”

The timeanddate.com site notes, “According to an old Irish legend, or possibly history, St Brigid struck a deal with St Patrick to allow women to propose to men every four years. This is believed to have been introduced to balance the traditional roles of men and women in a similar way to how Leap Day balances the calendar.”

Roman general Julius Caesar implemented the first leap day in his Julian Calendar, which he introduced in 45 BCE. A leap day was added every four years. At the time, Leap Day was February 24, and February was the last month of the year, according to timeanddate.com, which also mentions, “However, adding a leap day every four years was too often and eventually, in 1582, Pope Gregory XIII introduced the Gregorian Calendar. This calendar, which we still use today, has a more precise formula for calculation of leap years, also known as bissextile years.”

Whatever the case, if your big day is on February 29, enjoy celebrating another year (or four years). Happy birthday!