The jury is in on leap years. They suck. The year 2020 was a leap year and it definitely sucked. But was it the worst year in history? Nah, probably not. According to an article in Science Magazine, the âworst year to be aliveâ was in 536, or so claims medieval scholar Michael McCormick. It was, of course, a leap year. There has been quite a bit of soul searching and even some research to qualify and quantify just how shitty the year 2020 has been. Pop historians who focus on contemporary issues (as well as goofy ideas on leap years) can be quick to say that anything in front of them qualifies as âthe worst,â âthe best,â âthe biggest,â and so on. But, thatâs pop history for you and it should be taken with a grain of salt.