Leap Year Collection

Scholars and astronomers worked for eons to reconcile the differences between the lunar and the solar calendars. A lunar month lasts between 29 and 30 days, but it takes 365.2425 days for the Earth to travel around the sun. The math is hard to work out, especially dealing with that weird fraction of a day at the end of the year.

The Gregorian Calendar adds a day to the year every four years, but not "every" every four years. The full rule reads: "Every year that is exactly divisible by four is a leap year, except for years that are exactly divisible by 100, but these centurial years are leap years if they are exactly divisible by 400. For example, the years 1700, 1800, and 1900 are not leap years, but the year 2000 is."

In normal years, significant dates advance one day of the week. If Christmas was on Tuesday last year, then it should be on Wednesday this year and Thursday next year. However, every four years the date "leaps" an extra day ahead.
Scientifically, we know that there is nothing particularly significant about Leap Day, February 29th, the extra calendar day added every four years. As humans, however, we have a tendency to become superstitious about anything which is unusual, so February 29 tends to give some people the heebie-jeebies.

Here are some of our favorite Leap Day programs:

• 1936: Ziegfeld Follies of the Air. It's opening night of the 1936 Follies, a time for love, romance, and dreams to come true.
• 1940: Columbia Workshop. None other than Ellery Queen gets called in to investigate the strange happenings at the Columbia Studios. The microphones are talking back, the elevators are proposing marriage, newsman Bob Trout is reporting nonsense, and other shenanigans. Finally, Ellery will realize that on leap day, Feb 29, things are just naturally screwy!
• 1944: Fibber McGee and Molly. Fibber gets nostalgic for the days of the Old West, so he decides to build a big campfire in the fireplace. Did the cowboys' fires make this much smoke? The big surprise comes when Eddie Cantor rings the doorbell in the second act. What will Eddie find in Fibber's closet?
• 1948: The Lucky Strike Program Starring Jack Benny. It is a special day when Jack invites his girl friend, Gladys Zybisco, to rehearsal. That is, if he can get her away from the plumbing job she found over lunch (15 cent sardine sandwiches at the drugstore, Jack's treat). When he gets to the studio, Jack argues about the lyrics to "That's What I Like About the South" with Phil Harris, which one will make sense?
• 1952: The Roy Rogers Show. The King of the Cowboys has to deal with a mysterious smuggler who is bringing contraband across the border. There is also a mysterious hunchbacked geologist and his wife staying in Dale's hotel. Every morning, the professor crosses the border to help the folks down there, but what is he carrying in his false hump? How desperate is the professor to protect his smuggling operation?
• 1956: Fibber McGee and Molly. It seems like a red letter day in Wistful Vista. Fibber is spreading the word that his friend, Wallace Wimple, is leaving town for a new job in Chicago. The whole town appreciates Wimp, so naturally there has to be a big sent off at the station. (This is one of the later episodes of FM&M when the program is a daily transcription, sponsored by Alka Seltzer.)
• 1960: The Bing Crosby-Rosemary Clooney Show. Bing and Rosemary take advantage of the year's extra day by premiering a new syndicated music program. The program is very simple but delightful, it's just Bing, Rosemary and announcer Ken Carpenter with a tape recorder and a record player, enjoying each others company and sharing their greatest hits.
• 1964: Black Mass. This program was produced at the studios of Pacifica Public radio network as part of a PhD dissertation on "keeping radio drama alive in the 1960's". The "All Hallows" episode is a repeat of the show's first episode, featuring a haunted cathedral.