La Bougie du Sapeur

Delft, sunny but windy (there was a storm the last two days)

Two days ago was 29th of February, a date that occurs every 4 years. More precisely (I checked): years that can be divided by 4 and not 100 or years that can be divided by 400: 1900 had no 29th of February because 1900 can be divided by 4 but also by 100, whereas 2000 had a 29th of February because 2000 can be divided by 400. Easy, isn't it? (if only my dipolar coefficient calculations were that easy (sigh)).

"la Bougie du Sapeur" of 2004 (with special Sunday-issue included)

Well, anyway, almost every 4 years (years with a 29th of February), there is a newspaper that comes out in France, with only one issue, on the 29th of February, called La bougie du Sapeur (the Candle of the Sapeur - "sapeur" being a kind of soldier). The name seems quite weird, but it comes from a very old comic-strip published around 1890 about the Sapeur Camember (be carefull: the cheese is spelled "camembert" with a "t"!) who was born a 29th of February. The journal started in 1980 and this year it had its 8th issue. It comes out with 200.000 copies (actually I never bought one) but seems to sell well. Mostly it is quite a comical/ironical journal about the latest (political) news. In 2004, 29th of February was a Sunday, so there was a special extra Sunday-issue within the newspaper. Next Sunday-issue will be 29th of February 2032... Another funny detail: within the newspaper you can subscribe for an abonnement (subscription). Each newspaper costs 4 euros, so by paying 100 euros you'll get the newspaper through the whole 21th century (there is an option to transfer the subscription to your children if you wish).