h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

If the man refuses the woman, then he is supposed to give her a pair of gloves.... and at some stage in October if she proposes and he refuses he has to give her a hat.. (I think, I got it off the radio this morning)

Also.. while we're in 'leap' mode, there are also leap seconds. Because friction is causing the rotation of the Earth to slow down, the poeple in charge of time in Grenwich have to create leap seconds to keep up. However, unlike leap days, leap seconds can't be predicted as they are only added in after they have occured.

So, there ya go.

Do any women want to propose to *me*?!

Good luck to all you girls who actually want to marry the bloke you spend the rest of the year nagging at to stop watching TV, pick up his dirty socks and stop scratching his a**
Why spoil a good thing??!!

I heard the glove thing, too. I also heard that at one point, in Scotland, a fine was incurred by men that turned down marriage proposals on the 29th.

In Norwegian tradition the man has to give 12 pairs of gloves if he turns her down.
-B-

I once read that the 'tradition' was started (or imposed) by Queen Margaret of Scotland (dates, anyone (not the edible kind)?) because the Scotsmen kept going South of the border to find wives, probably because the English women were richer. Although the 'penalty' of a pair of gloves is widely quoted, I have also heard of penalties of £1 (a lot of money in those days) and a silk gown.

On the subject of leap seconds, I heard today that 2004 is NOT going to be a leap year, just to keep the calendar steady.

This is very worrying because my PC thinks:
? DATEADD("D",DATESERIAL(2004,02,28),1)
29.02.2004
so will be worng.
Oh hang on - I've just spent the last 2 years making pots of money because it thought 1999 was followed by 1900...so perhaps this is a good rumour to encourage .