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February 30 happened once, in 1712 Sweden — and May 35 still happens every year in China

Ellsworth Toohey
Jun 29, 2026
∙ Paid

non-standard dates February 30 history — Corfy at English Wikipedia Photo Credit: Jason Corfman / CC BY-SA 3.0 (via Wikipedia)

February 30 has occurred exactly once in recorded history. In 1712, the Swedish Empire — midway through a botched switch from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar — had already skipped a leap day in 1700, then gotten distracted b…

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