What year will this leap year be in?

Answer 1

2008 was a leap year; the next leap year will be 2012.

Because the orbit of Earth around the sun is not a whole number, the Julian calendar (all calendars, actually) need to have "leap years" to keep the year in synch with the seasons. The Earth's orbit is pretty close to 365.25 days, so if we have three years of 365 days and then one year of 366 days, that keeps things accurate. So leap years are any year divisible by 4.

Almost.

Because the Earth's orbit isn't QUITE 365.25 days; it is 365.26 days. It would be off by almost a day every century, so in years that are evenly divisible by 100, it is NOT a leap year. So 1800 was not a leap year, and 1900 was not a leap year, and 2100 will not be a leap year.

Almost! There is one MORE exception. In years that are divisible by 400, it IS a leap year. So 2000 was a leap year, and 2400 will be.

And THIS is accurate. This calculation, developed in the 1500s as the Julian Calendar, will be accurate for about 20 millennia. If we're still around in the year 20,000AD, we may have to add or subtract an extra day from the calendar.