Leap Year Question Made Tricky on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
In the last episode of ATV's popular competition program Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, presented by Kenan İmirzalıoğlu on Sunday evening, October 1, 2023, the leap year question forced the contestant. According to the calendar we use, which year corresponds to a leap year? Viewers who were curious about the answer to the question started researching on the internet. Here is the correct answer to the leap year question asked in Millionaire.
What is Leap Year?
A leap year is a year created by adding one day to February every four years, since the time required for the Sun to make one full rotation around the Earth is slightly more than 365 days. February of a leap year has 29 days. Having a leap year ensures that the calendar is in harmony with the seasons.
Answer to Leap Year Question
The leap year question asked by Kenan İmirzalıoğlu in Who Wants to Be a Millionaire was as follows:
According to the calendar we use, which year corresponds to a leap year?
The options were as follows:
A- 2020 Summer Olympics B- Barack Obama's election as US president (ANSWER) C- Declaration of the republic in Turkey D- Ottoman conquest of Istanbul
The correct answer to the question was that Barack Obama, in option B, was elected president of the United States. Barack Obama was elected as the 4th president of the United States in the elections held on November 2008, 44. 2008 was a leap year.
How to Solve the Leap Year Question?
To solve the leap year question, it is necessary to know or guess the year in which the events in the options took place. Then there is a simple method to find out whether the year in which the events took place is a leap year. Divide the year in which the event occurred by 4 to check whether the result is an integer. If the result is an integer, that year is a leap year; if the result is not an integer, that year is not a leap year.
For example, if we know or can predict the year in which the 2020 Summer Olympics take place, we can solve this question. The year 2020 Summer Olympics will take place is 2020. If we divide this year by 4, the result is an integer (2020 / 4 = 505). This indicates that 2020 is a leap year. However, this option is not the correct answer. Because the question asks which year it occurs falls on a leap year. It is wrong to say that 2020 is already a leap year.
Similarly, the year the republic was declared in Turkey was 1923. If we divide this year by 4, the result is not a whole number (1923 / 4 = 480,75). This shows that 1923 is not a leap year. Therefore, this option is not the correct answer either.
The year the Ottomans conquered Istanbul was 1453. If we divide this year by 4, the result is a whole number (1453 / 4 = 363,25). This shows that the year 1453 is a leap year. However, this option is not the correct answer either. Because the question says according to the calendar we are using. The calendar we use is the Gregorian calendar. The leap year rule in the Gregorian calendar began to be implemented in 1582. Therefore, the leap year rule does not apply for years before 1582.
Thus, we can find that the correct answer to the question in option B is Barack Obama being elected president of the United States. The year Barack Obama was elected president of the United States was 2008. If we divide this year by 4, the result is an integer (2008 / 4 = 502). This shows that 2008 is a leap year. Also, the question mentions the calendar we are using. The calendar we are using is the Gregorian calendar and the leap year rule is valid in this calendar. Therefore, the year in which Barack Obama was elected US president coincided with a leap year.