Writing in Leap Years

Did you know the exceptions to the rule that every four years is Leap Year (has a February 29 on the calendar)? Look what I discovered at Ancestor Search thanks to Catherine Tulley at Freelance-Zone.com blog:

Leap Year Rule

All years divisible by 4 are leap years unless the year can be divided by 100. There is, however, an exception to this 100 year rule exception. Any year that can be divided by 400 is a leap year. So while the years 1700, 1800 and 1900 were not leap years because they are divisible by 100, the year 2000, because it is divisible by 400, was a leap year.

Why should writers care? For nonfictioneers, accuracy. For fictionalists, veracity. Pretty much the same meaning. In journalism the need for accuracy is self-explanatory. Journalists write about facts, so they'd want to get the date correct, writing about a past or a future event. In fiction, the need for correctness lies more in the tone or authority to be projected throughout the piece. In sci-fi and fantasy, it may not matter at all. For an historical romance, it may be critical to getting published (fact-checkers may give demerits for wrong days/dates).