Great Lovers
The love story of Cupid and Psyche has inspired porcelain artists for centuries and some beautiful examples can be seen in our Fantastique exhibit which explores the enchanted world of ceramic art. Many other famous love stories unfold at WMODA, including Cinderella and Prince Charming, Romeo and Juliet, Antony and Cleopatra and the love triangle of King Arthur, Guinevere and Lancelot. Dating couples will have lots to talk about while exploring the social history of boy meets girl at nightclubs and cabarets.

Leap Day
Ladies, if your loved one doesn’t deliver on Valentine’s Day then take heart on February 29. In folk tradition, a woman can propose marriage on this extra day in a leap year. The custom has been attributed to various historical figures including Ireland’s St. Brigid, who is said to have complained to St. Patrick that women had to wait too long for their suitor to pop the question. The obliging saint gave women the leap day to propose. Apparently, if a man didn’t accept a leap year proposal it could cost him dearly. In some European countries, a reluctant spouse had to give the rejected woman a dozen pairs of gloves, supposedly to hide the lack of an engagement ring.

Sun & Earth
It takes the Earth 365 days, 5 hours 48 minutes, and 45 seconds to circle once around the sun. However, the Gregorian calendar we rely on has only 365 days so if we didn’t add an extra day to our shortest month every four years, we would lose almost 6 hours every year. People born on leap day are often called leaplings or leapers and there are over 4 million people in the world born on February 29. So that they don’t miss out, their birthday celebrations are often moved to February 28 or March 1.

Leap into WMODA on February 29 to fall in love with the fired arts and celebrate universal love and kindness.