The Decree of Canopus, issued by the pharaoh Ptolemy III Euergetes of Ancient Egypt in 239 BC, decreed a solar leap day system; an Egyptian leap year was not adopted until 25 BC, when the Roman Emperor Augustus instituted a reformed Alexandrian calendar.
Usually five epagomenal days are included within every year (Egyptian, Coptic, Ethiopian, Mayan Haab' and French Republican Calendars), but a sixth epagomenal day is intercalated every four years in some (Coptic, Ethiopian and French Republican calendars).
[3] The Bahá'í calendar includes enough epagomenal days (usually 4 or 5) before the last month (علاء, ʿalāʾ) to ensure that the following year starts on the March equinox.
Whether to insert an intercalary month in a given year may be determined using regular cycles such as the 19-year Metonic cycle (Hebrew calendar and in the determination of Easter) or using calculations of lunar phases (Hindu lunisolar and Chinese calendars).
In principle, lunar calendars do not employ intercalation because they do not seek to synchronise with the seasons, and the motion of the moon is astronomically predictable.
The International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service can insert or remove leap seconds from the last day of any month (June and December are preferred).