February 29 takes approximately 6 hours longer than 365 whole days. A leap day compensates for this lag, realigning the calendar with the Earth's position in the Solar System; otherwise, seasons would occur later than intended in the calendar year. The Julian calendar used in Christendom until the 16th century added a leap day every four years; but this rule adds too many days (roughly 3 every 400 years), making the equinoxes and solstices shift gradually to earlier dates. By the 16th century the vernal equinox had drifted to March 11, and the Gregorian calendar was introduced both to shift it back
Zoroastrian calendar Zoroastrian Seasonal-Year Society. In 1906, the society published its proposal for a Zoroastrian calendar which was synchronised with the seasons. This "Fasli" calendar, as it became known, was based on the Jalali calendar introduced in 1079 during the reign of the Seljuk Malik Shah and which had been well received in agrarian communities. The Fasli proposal had two useful features: a leap-day once every four years, and harmony with the tropical year. The leap-day, called "Avardad-sal-Gah" (or in Pahlavi: "Ruzevahizak"), would be inserted, when required, after the five existing "Gatha" days at the end of the year. New Year's Day