This year's spring equinox was the earliest to arrive in 120 years, largely because of an old rule governing leap years.

There are two equinoxes (taken from the Latin words aequus for "equal" and nox for "night") each year, marking the start of spring and fall. On these days, there are nearly equal amounts of daylight and darkness.

In the Northern Hemisphere, the spring equinox happens on March 20 or 21. But the 2016 spring equinox happened during the very early hours of Sunday (March 20) at 12:30 a.m. EDT, making it the earliest spring equinox since 1896.

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Cartagena is about 70 miles North of the Equator and normally has close to equal hours of light and dark throughout the year. But it is in the Northern Hemisphere; so, this is its Spring.