When February 30 Was Incorporated Into the Calendars of These Two Nations

Every fourth year, February is given an additional day, and that year is known as the leap year. However, did you know that throughout the annals of human history, the date February 30 has appeared twice?

In the common year, February is 28 days long. However, every fourth year, February is reduced to 29 days. According to sources, the Soviet Union added February 30 in the years 1930 and 1931 in order to adhere to the revolutionary calendar, whereas the Scandinavian nation of Sweden added the day of February 30 in the year 1712 as a result of a calendar mistake.

Sweden did not have a leap year in 1700 because the nation had chosen to switch from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar. However, a mistake in 1704 and 1708 caused them to become leap years. As a result, the years were out of sync, forcing the nation to go back to the Julian calendar. As a result, February 30 was observed later in 1712, the year the calendar was extended by two leap days. Finally, Sweden adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1753, the year when March 1 replaced February 17. Many thought they had lost eleven days of their existence, thus they were not happy about this move.

Due to the Soviet Union’s adoption of a revolutionary calendar in 1929, February 30 was included in the years 1930 and 1931. This calendar contained five days in a week, thirty days in a working month, and five or six extra days were designated as “monthless” holidays. This was carried out in an effort to increase industry efficiency and prevent disruptions on non-working days. They abandoned the calendar in 1940 because they were having trouble doing away with Sundays completely.