Why Do We Need a Leap Year?

The creation of the calendar and why the leap year exists is a story of trial and error, according to James Lowe, board chairman of the Blair County Historical Society.

From his research, he found that the first calendar year was created in 753 BC by Romulus with only 10 months and 304 days, plus an undefined winter period.

This was eventually modified to include 12 months with a total 354 days with no fluctuating winter period.

“Since the actual time for the Earth to orbit the Sun is 365.224 days, it didn’t take long before the seasons were out of place,” Lowe said.

Eventually, the harvest wa...