It’s Leap Day! How many Arkansans celebrate their birthday once every 4 years?
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Once every four years the calendars have another day at the end of February, and many residents of the Natural State find themselves celebrating a somewhat unnatural Leap Day birthday.
A quick check of driver’s license numbers gives some insight. Arkansas has 2.3 million licensed drivers, according to data from the Department of Finance and Administration. Of those millions of drivers, 1,762 have a birthdate of Feb. 29, a little less than 0.8% of drivers.
“As the least common birthday on licenses and IDs, those celebrating Feb. 29 represent a unique group,” DFA spokesperson Scott Harding said.
A Leap Day birthdate is a rare phenomenon. Since a Leap Year happens only once every four years, that means a Leap Day only takes place once every 1,461 days.
What would happen without a Leap Day? More than you might think
Records from the Arkansas Department of Health show that less than 500 births have been recorded on Leap Days this century, with three Leap Years – 2000, 2008 & 2012 – all seeing 107 bouncing, or rather leaping, babies born on Feb. 29.
The most widely known Arkansas “leapling” is author Dee Brown (1908-2002), whose seminal book “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee” is an important reference for historians and was made into a movie.
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Outside the Natural State, other famous names claim a Feb. 29 birthday, including rapper Ja Rule (1976), motivational speaker Tony Robbins (1960), tough guy actor Dennis Farina (1944) and singer-actress Dinah Shore (1916).
Leap Day is also the (fictional) birthday for a comic book favorite. DC Comis editors established in 1966 that Superman, known for leaping over buildings in a single bound, was born on Krypton on Feb. 29.
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