February 2024: a 29-day leap month, Thursday to Thursday
February 2024 was the rare one: 29 days, the first leap February since 2016, opening on a Thursday and closing on one. Five Thursdays filled out a month that held 21 business days and eight weekend days. The stage belonged to Taylor Swift on Sunday 4 February, when a record fourth Album of the Year Grammy for Midnights came with the announcement of The Tortured Poets Department. By Thursday 29 February, the month had earned its extra day.
The leap arithmetic
Five Thursdays, from Thursday 1 February through Thursday 29 February, bracketed the month; every other weekday ran to four. Business days came to 21, weekend days to eight, across ISO weeks 5 to 9.
Babies born on the leap day hold a true birthday once every four years. The next leap day waits until 2028. For payroll, the fifth Thursday was the fact to log first.
February 2024 began and ended on Thursdays, a closed loop with an extra day folded inside. A leap grid carries one more square to account for. Most Februarys manage 28; this one had room for a record or two.
From the Grammys to Las Vegas
Taylor Swift won a fourth Album of the Year Grammy for Midnights on Sunday 4 February. She was the first artist to reach that number. She announced The Tortured Poets Department from the stage.
The next day, Monday 5 February, brought graver news. Buckingham Palace said King Charles III had been diagnosed with cancer and had begun treatment. The month paused, briefly, then carried on.
Sport did the carrying. Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas on Sunday 11 February drew an average of 123.4 million viewers. It was the biggest American television audience on record. Kansas City won 25-22 in overtime.
Bitcoin, meanwhile, crossed $50,000 for the first time since late 2021 on Monday 12 February. Records on several stages, in a month one day longer than usual.
Odysseus and the quiet records
On Thursday 22 February, the lander Odysseus touched down near the lunar south pole. It was the first American moon landing since Apollo 17 in 1972, and the first by a private spacecraft. It settled propped on its flank and carried on transmitting, which is the year's most lunar sentence.
Away from the moon, Nvidia became the first chipmaker worth $2 trillion on Friday 23 February. Apple's Vision Pro had opened the month on sale at $3,499, the company's first new product category in nine years.
The full Snow Moon arrived on Saturday 24 February and broke a run of Friday phases. Last quarter, new moon and first quarter had each come on a Friday earlier in the month.
March 2024 waited next with an equinox and an eclipse in hand. February had kept both bookends on Thursdays, which is the tidiest behaviour a leap month can manage.