This Tuesday, January 2, is the first working day of 2024. Many undoubtedly start their year with optimism and confidence that great good things will come, not only wishing but also working for them so that they become reality.

There are certainly many things to look forward to in 2024. For now, the planet can take the following events that will occur this year as facts.

2024 is a leap year

Leap years occur every four years, and that period won’t arrive until 2024. Unlike other years, leap years have an extra day to accommodate the slight discrepancy between Earth’s patterns and the cycle of celestial events (Earth’s lifespan is just over a year). an orbit around the sun. That means 2024 will have 366 days instead of 365. That extra day is recorded as February 29.

Without the extra day in leap years, the seasons would gradually move out of sync, affecting planting and harvesting. For approximately 5 million people around the world, that extra day, February 29, is very special, because they have the opportunity to celebrate their birthday on the day itself, which they normally celebrate on February 28 or March 1.

The Olympic Games in Paris

Although they have nothing to do with each other, it is a great coincidence. Leap years also bring with them one of the most important sporting events: the Olympic Games, which will take place this year in Paris from Friday, July 26 (and later, from Wednesday, August 28, the Paralympic Games will take place). One of the novelties of this new athletics cycle is the debut of breakor breakdance, as a sport. It will also be the first time that male and female Olympic athletes will be represented in equal numbers.

New movies

Hoping that this year no new strikes will be reactivated in Hollywood or that other types of confrontations will take place, the release calendar promises us the following titles in cinemas: Priscilla (from January 4); Dune: part two (March); Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (Be able to), Inside out 2 (June); Bad part 1 (November).

Television premieres

Favorite series return to the screen in their new seasons: Bridgerton, which premieres its third episode on Netflix; the exciting dragon house takes over HBO Max again for a second part; The bear is preparing its third season for Starplus; and the mythical Control your enthusiasm returns for a twelfth and final season on HBO Max.

Facebook turns 20 and Amazon turns 30

In February 2004, Mark Zuckerberg and some of his Harvard classmates ventured into a social experiment/game to help students connect with each other. Thus Facebook was born. The largest social network of them all, which has taken over other popular platforms such as WhatsApp and Instagram, wants to celebrate its first twenty years of existence with the launch of a docuseries, to be produced by the BBC.

The anniversary of another digital giant commemorated in 2024 is that of Amazon, the largest company in e-commerce and cloud computing services. The company was founded in 1994 as Cadabra by Jeff Bezos, who until then had been a vice president of a Wall Street firm.