Several National Whatever Holidays take place on February 28th: Floral Design Day, Public Sleeping Day, National Tooth Fairy Day and Rare Disease Day. If this were a Leap Year, tomorrow would be Leap Day and Rare Disease Day, since Rare Disease Day is the last day of the month.
Floral Design Day
Floral design is the art of using plant materials and flowers to create a pleasing and balanced composition or arrangement. Evidence of refined floristry is found as far back as the culture of Ancient Egypt. Professionally designed floral designs, arrangements or artwork incorporate the elements of floral design: Line, Form, Space, Texture and Color and the Principles of Floral Design: Balance, Proportion, Rhythm, Contrast, Harmony and Unity.
Floral art in a competition in Rose festival in Chandigarh.
There are many styles of floral design. Eastern, Western and European styles have all influenced the commercial floral industry as it is today. Ikebana is a Japanese or eastern style of floral design and incorporates the three main line placements of heaven, man and earth. In contrast, European style emphasizes color and variety of botanical materials not limited to just blooming flowers, in mass gatherings of multiple flowers. Western design historically is characterized by symmetrical, asymmetrical, horizontal and vertical style of arrangements.
Public Sleeping Day
On the Public Sleeping Website there is information about the 'Public Sleeping Revolution (PSR).' The PSR "was started in a small town where there was really only one thing to do...sleep. For anyone who has ever dreamed of starting a revolution but just never wanted to wake up from that dream, we are here to start a revolution...in our sleep. We are The PSR Team, we are professionals, but only when we sleep."
Rules for this 'Revolution'
1) Go to sleep
2) Have a friend photograph it
3) Load it to the PSR page
4) Check out other pictures and pass links to your friends
5) Like any picture on the website and the pic with the most likes gets to take over the page profile picture.
A Bible verse on the website says, "It is useless for you to work so hard from early morning until late at night, anxiously working for food to eat; for God gives sleep to his loved ones." ~Psalm 127:2
National Tooth Fairy Day
In early Europe, it was a tradition to bury baby teeth that fell out. When a child’s sixth tooth falls out, it is a custom for parents to slip a gift or money from the tooth fairy under the child’s pillow, but to leave the tooth as a reward. Some parents also leave trails of glitter on the floor, representing fairy dust.
In northern Europe, there was also a tradition of tann-fé or tooth fee, which was paid when a child lost their first tooth. This tradition is recorded in writings as early as the Eddas, which are the earliest written record of Norse and Northern European traditions.
The reward left for the tooth varies per country, the family’s economic status, amounts the child’s peers report receiving and other factors. A 2011 study found that American children receive $2.60 per tooth on average.
Rare Disease Day
Rare Disease Day is an observance held on the last day of February to raise awareness for rare diseases and improve access to treatment and medical representation for individuals with rare diseases and their families. It was established in 2008 because, according to the European Organization for Rare Diseases (EURORDIS), treatment for many rare diseases is insufficient, as are the social networks to support individuals with rare diseases and their families; furthermore, while there were already numerous days dedicated to sufferers of individual diseases (such as AIDS, cancer, etc.), there had previously not been a day for representing sufferers of rare diseases.
In 2009 Rare Disease Day went global as NORD (National Organization for Rare Disorders) mobilized 200 rare disease patient advocacy organizations in the United States while organizations in China, Australia, Taiwan, and Latin America also lead efforts in their respective countries to coordinate activities and promote the day. In addition, leading rare disease patient advocacy organizations including the Global Genes Project have joined forces to promote Rare Disease Day.
Many people are unsure when a Leap Year will occur. As most people know, there are technically 365 days in a year according to our calendar. But a complete revolution around the sun takes an approximate 365 days and 6 hours; thus, an extra 24 hours that accumulates over four years requires an extra calendar day every fourth year.
Leap day of the Gregorian calendar is a date that occurs in most years that are divisible by 4, such as 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020. Years that are divisible by 100, but not by 400, do not contain a leap day; thus 1900 did not contain a leap day while 2000 did.
Without the added day, the seasons would move back in the calendar, leading to confusion about when to undertake activities dependent on weather, ecology, or hours of daylight.
A solar year, however, is slightly shorter than 365 days and 6 hours (365.25 days). More precisely, as derived from the Alfonsine tables, the Earth makes a complete revolution around the sun in 365 days, 5 hours, 49 minutes, and 16 seconds (365.2425 days). Adding a calendar day every four years would thus add an extra 43 minutes and 12 seconds to the calendar, or 3 days every 400 years. To compensate for this, three leap days must be omitted every 400 years.
February 29th came to be regarded as the leap day when the Roman system of numbering days was replaced by sequential numbering in the late Middle Ages.