Happy Leap Day!

Today is February 29th, a.k.a. Leap Day! Several celebrities have had February 29th birthdays: musician Jimmy Dorsey, actress Dinah Shore, self-help star Tony Robbins, rapper Ja Rule, and, disturbingly, Aileen Wuornos, the prostitute-turned-serial-killer played by Charlize Theron in the movie “Monster.”

But what does Leap Day mean for singles? Plenty! Tradition has it that women can do the marriage-proposing on Leap Day or, in some places, anytime during a Leap Year. Although some say this tradition originated with St. Patrick or with Brigid of Kildare in fifth century Ireland, there’s no evidence of it existing prior to the nineteenth century. Some people conflate this “Ladies’ Privilege” of Leap Day with Sadie Hawkins Day -- but Sadie Hawkins Day was invented by Al Capp in his Li’l Abner comic strip back in November 1937, and for the next 40 years it was celebrated in November.

There’s also a story, according to Wikipedia, that “a 1288 law by Queen Margaret of Scotland (then age five and living in Norway), required that fines be levied if a marriage proposal was refused by the man; compensation ranged from a kiss to £1 to a silk gown, in order to soften the blow.” I appreciate that the law probably made men take marriage proposals from women seriously, but somehow I don’t think I’d want a guy to marry me just to avoid a fine....

Happy Leap Day, everyone!