February
February - second month of the Gregorian calendar, following January. After February ends, in turn, comes March. In this seasonal accessory Feb in various parts of the globe varies. So in the Northern hemisphere, February is the third, the last month of winter, whereas in the southern hemisphere is the third and final month of the calendar summer.
Duration Feb
February is one of the most remarkable months compared to other months of the year. The first feature is the duration of this time period. So, the Gregorian calendar stipulates the presence of the 365 days in a regular and 366 days in a leap year. Thus, equal division is that the number of days in the adopted calendar 12 months would lead to the fact that the number of days each would have been incomplete. Therefore, for ease of calculation in the Gregorian calendar, was introduced, according to which the number of days in months vary. As a result, the February was the shortest month: its usual length is only 28 days. Besides, he is the only month the number of days in which in all cases is less than 30.
February in a leap year
As you know, the Gregorian calendar has certain assumptions: the exact duration of the calendar year, i.e. the period of time between the date of the spring equinox, is 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 46секунд. Thus, the accepted length of the year provides the annual gap from the natural cycle. To correct this omission in the Gregorian calendar taken once in 4 years, increase the duration of the year for one day: thus, a leap year consists not of 365 and 366 days.
This, in turn, resulted in the appearance of another features Feb. Apparently, because of its small compared to other months of duration, it became a kind of marker of a leap year: this year to the usual 28 days of February added another. Thus, every 4 years February has 29 days instead of 28. This situation creates some inconvenience for those who was born on this day: in fact, they may celebrate their holiday only every 4 years. Last leap year was 2012, so the next time an extra day in February will appear in 2016.