# Happy Birthday, Frederic! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 29, 2012, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-birthday-frederic/614321 "2012-02-29T07:22:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2012, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-birthday-frederic/614321/1 "2012-02-29T07:22:54Z")
It is now the 29th of the beastly month of February, thus the apprentice pirate Frederic is now one year older. According to the play, his 21st birthday was in 1940 - how old would be be this leap year? ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2012, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-birthday-frederic/614321/2 "2012-02-29T09:06:50Z")
I think the G&S operetta got it wrong, since it didn’t allow for 1900 not being a leap year. Young Frederic would now be 34, and today no one has their 112th birthday. (or 28th birthday, being born in 1900) ---
**Author:** ![doogie1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/82dd89/32.png) [@doogie1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doogie1970)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2012, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-birthday-frederic/614321/3 "2012-02-29T10:59:34Z")
I think he’s 39 today. I don’t think the G&S operetta got it wrong as it doesn’t state when Frederic was born, only that he reaches his 21st birthday in 1940. So if he was 21 in 1940 then (2012-1940)/4 = 18 (as 2000 was a leap year). 18 + 21 = 39. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2012, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-birthday-frederic/614321/4 "2012-02-29T18:44:15Z")
I’m sure Mabel has stuck by him all these years. And can that girl sing…! ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2012, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-birthday-frederic/614321/5 "2012-02-29T18:52:17Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I’m sure Mabel has stuck by him all these years. And can that girl sing…! Yeah, but has her father gotten a promotion yet? When was Frederic born? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2012, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-birthday-frederic/614321/6 "2012-02-29T19:30:13Z")
He’d have been born in 1856, right? He has a “birthday” every four years (by coincidence, in U.S. presidential election years). So: Born Feb. 29, 1856 1 - 1860 2 - 1864 3 - 1868 4 - 1872 5 - 1876 6 - 1880 7 - 1884 8 - 1888 9 - 1892 10 - 1896 11 - 1900 12 - 1904 13 - 1908 14 - 1912 15 - 1916 16 - 1920 17 - 1924 18 - 1928 19 - 1932 20 - 1936 21 - 1940! According to Wiki, the NYT wished Frederic a happy 21st birthday on Feb. 29, 1940, and congratulated him on completing his pirate indenture. ---
**Author:** ![doogie1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/82dd89/32.png) [@doogie1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doogie1970)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2012, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-birthday-frederic/614321/7 "2012-02-29T19:50:10Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > He’d have been born in 1856, right? Nah, he was born on 29 February 1852. 1900 wasn’t a leap year. > [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > According to Wiki, the NYT wished Frederic a happy 21st birthday on Feb. 29, 1940, and congratulated him on completing his pirate indenture. Cool! ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2012, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-birthday-frederic/614321/8 "2012-02-29T20:21:45Z")
He was born in either 1856 or 1860. It depends on whether the Pirate King knows enough to skip 1900 or not. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2012, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-birthday-frederic/614321/9 "2012-02-29T21:09:45Z")
> [@appleciders](#): > > He was born in either 1856 or 1860. It depends on whether the Pirate King knows enough to skip 1900 or not. In the production I was in he was a pretty smart cookie, so yes. He was also an orphan. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2012, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-birthday-frederic/614321/10 "2012-02-29T21:32:07Z")
> **[How Could the Year 2000 Be a Leap Year When 1900 Was Not?](https://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/everyday-myths/question50.htm)** > > February is an unusual month, especially when it comes to leap years. In this article, you can read about why we use leap years and how the year 2000 was a leap year and 1900 was not. I read this, and I still don’t understand how 1900 wasn’t a leap year. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2012, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-birthday-frederic/614321/11 "2012-02-29T21:55:52Z")
If every fourth year was a leap year, over great lengths of time the calendar would get a little out of wack again. To keep it closer to the actual seasons, the years divisible by 100 are not designated leap years. UNLESS it’s also evenly divisible by 400. So 1700, 1800, and 1900, would not have been leap years. But 2000 was, as it’s evenly divisible by 400. ---
**Author:** ![doogie1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/82dd89/32.png) [@doogie1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doogie1970)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2012, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-birthday-frederic/614321/12 "2012-02-29T22:09:16Z")
> [@appleciders](#): > > He was born in either 1856 or 1860. I suppose he could have been born in 1860, based purely on the Major General’s claim to be able to whistle all the airs from that infernal nonsense Pinafore. Pinafore opened in 1878, and the first leap year after that was 1880. As Frederic is now ‘5 and a little bit over’, the show must take place in 1881. Twenty-one years before that is 1860. However, this puts the 1940 calculation out by quite a bit, even allowing for 1900 not being a leap year. A paradox? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2012, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-birthday-frederic/614321/13 "2012-02-29T22:12:28Z")
I renewed my membership at Sam’s Club yesterday and the woman told me it would be good until next February 28. I feel dumb. If I had waited until today to renew it, it would have lasted me until 2016.