To many, time may be a social construct. However, the reality of it is that our society depends on time for order. Unfortunately, we’ve had to get creative about all of that because when it comes to our calendar and the cosmos, they don’t completely work out. The leap year is necessary because it’s an uneven amount of days for the Earth to orbit the sun. This means every four years, we add the Leap Day to make up for it. Every once in a while, the timeline aligns with some significant military moments. Suggested read: The Navy’s Real Top Gun School Started in a Parking Lot

When Is the Next Leap Year?

2024 is a leap year, which occurs once every four years. Therefore, the next leap year will occur in 2028. February is the shortest month of the year and will be the recipient of the leap day, celebrated on the 29th of their respective leap years. For any event, it’s a bit rare to have something significant fall on the actual leap day because they happen 75% less than other days on the calendar. Nevertheless, the U.S. military and government have had several notable moments throughout history on Leap Day:

President Lincoln Nominates Ulysses S. Grant

By the time February 29, 1864, came along, the American Civil War had been going on for years and didn’t seem to have an endgame for either side. President Abraham Lincoln had seen enough. Looking for a leader to help the Union claim victory once and for all to reunite the country, President Lincoln nominated Ulysses S. Grant for the job of Lieutenant General in the Army. This would make Cmdr. Grant the highest-ranked official in the U.S. Army during the time, an honor only George Washington and Winfield Scott held. The Senate received Lincoln’s nomination of Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant following Grant’s many victories the year before, and didn’t take long to make things official. Grant’s Leap Day nomination was appointed by the U.S. Senate on March 2, 1864, a wise move for the Union and the leader. Ultimately, Grant led American troops to victory over Robert E. Lee and the Confederacy, with Grant becoming the 18th President of the United States.

A Coup in Haiti?

Leap-year days connected to possible U.S. military involvement arguably don’t get much dicier than the deposition of Haiti’s first democratically elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide. It’s still a bit unclear whether or not the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was involved here, and the organization’s blurred lines to the military also remain. But many connected the coup to the intelligence agency, including Congress. Dictators were ruling Haiti, including François "Papa Doc" Duvalier and Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier. The family maintained power before Aristide was elected in 1990 only to be taken out of the position via a coup in 1991. The U.S. military would eventually bring Aristide back to power in 1994. However, things eventually disintegrated a bit after a connection between Aristide’s government and street gangs to ensure his re-election in 2000. An uprising took place and order was no more. The United States helped Jean-Bertrand Aristide escape Haiti for a life in the Central African Republic while sending troops to keep peace. This would take place on February 29, 2004, which is, of course, a Leap Day. Adding even more convolution to the story, if you were to ask the man America helped rescue, well, he’d tell you the coup d'etat was actually at the direction of the United States.

The Doha Agreement

Leap Day in 2020 was a bit odd, then again, so was nearly everything else that year. Nevertheless, on February 29, 2020, the U.S. and the Taliban signed what would become known as the Doha Agreement or the U.S.-Afghanistan Joint Declaration. It was a peace treaty between the U.S. and the Taliban that took place in Doha, Qatar, to end around 20 years of fighting in Afghanistan. In theory, the four-part deal was going to end the fighting and the Taliban wasn’t going to conduct terrorist activities within Afghanistan while also making peace with the local Afghan government. Shockingly, the talk between the Taliban and the Afghan government failed and now Afghanistan is under Taliban control. This led to other repercussions, including the withdrawal of American troops and other locals during the Kabul airport airlift. Related read: Pearl Harbor Survivors: A Shrinking Population of Heroes

How Many Days in a Leap Year?

So that the calendar doesn’t go haywire, we add one day every four years, known as Leap Day. This is to make sure we’re on track. Therefore, there are 366 days in every Leap Year keeping our world in “perfect” working order. Read next: Flag on the Play: EA Sports College Football NIL Excludes Military Teams