Look Before You Leap!

A couple of Wikipedia articles connected with Leap Years and the 29th February... I found they made quite interesting (if confusing) reading:

Wikipedia: Leap Years
Wikipedia: 29th February

Picking out just some of the odd things that have happened on February 29th throughout the years:

2 serial killers were born - Aileen Wournos and Richard Ramirez (wonder if there's any relationship between not being able to celebrate your birthday on the proper day, and becoming a crazed killer?)

Ladies, have you proposed to your significant other today yet? Come on, time's a-ticking! Wikipedia says:

"There is a tradition that women may make a proposal of marriage to men only in leap years, further restricted in some cases to only February 29. There is a tradition that in 1288 the Scottish parliament under Queen Margaret legislated that any woman could propose in Leap Year; few parliament records of that time exist, and none concern February 29. Another component of this tradition was that if the man rejects the proposal, he should soften the blow by providing a kiss, one pound currency, and a pair of gloves (some later sources say a silk gown). There were similar notions in France and Switzerland."

A POUND? One measly quid!?

I asked my brother about my "odds" on you being born on 29th Feb - and I was (sorta) right! He said I hadn't taken any other factors into account, like the fact that most people are born in August / September, for example. Not only that, I managed to remember the difference between "odds" and "probability" (Probability, you would add the one result you do want to the ones you DON'T, and say you would have a "One in X-number probability"... so you'd have a "one in 1461 probability" of being born on Feb. 29th - Odds, you take the result you want, and put it the other side of the balance from the results you don't... hence, 1460/1 against)... Maybe there's hope for me on "Are You Smarter Than A 10-Year Old?" after all?

Well, happy birthday if you are celebrating today - Make the most of it... you've got 4 years until the next one!