--- title: New Year's Eve 2016: Leap Second to Precede New Year's Day description: If you're waiting for 2016 to end, you will have to wait one second longer. canonical: https://time.com/4619842/new-years-eve-day-2016-leap-second/ author: Sam Frizell article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-12-30T15:56:07.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:47:36.593Z og:title: Just Want 2016 to End Already? You'll Have to Wait Another Second og:description: A "leap second" will be added to account for slowing in the Earth's rotation og:url: https://time.com/4619842/new-years-eve-day-2016-leap-second/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt25e0afa03732968b/6988b431656a3f5644bce448/leap-second-new-year-2017.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: New Year Numerals Arrive In Times Square - NYC og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Just Want 2016 to End Already? You'll Have to Wait Another Second twitter:description: A "leap second" will be added to account for slowing in the Earth's rotation twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt25e0afa03732968b/6988b431656a3f5644bce448/leap-second-new-year-2017.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Just Want 2016 to End Already? 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Dec 30, 2016 3:56 PM UTC  The numerals '1' and '7,' to be used to spell out '2-0-1-7' for the Times Square New Years Eve celebration, are unloaded from a flatbed truck before being unveiled in Times Square in New York City, on Dec. 15, 2016. The numerals '1' and '7,' to be used to spell out '2-0-1-7' for the Times Square New Years Eve celebration, are unloaded from a flatbed truck before being unveiled in Times Square in New York City, on Dec. 15, 2016. Dennis Van Tine—Sipa USA/AP by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Dec 30, 2016 3:56 PM UTC If you’re waiting for 2016 to end, you will have to wait one second longer. Precisely one additional second will be tacked on to the end of Dec. 31, 2016, in order to account for the precise time it takes for the earth to travel around the sun. Instead of the customary 86,400 seconds in a day, New Year’s Eve will have 86,401 seconds, making 2016 one second longer. That’s because the traditional length of the day does not precisely measure actual time, as told by hyper-accurate atomic clocks. This year, scientists have some adjusting to do. With the advent of transcontinental railroads in the 19th century, scientists settled on an 86,400-second-long day. But the Earth actually takes 86,400.2 seconds to complete one rotation, and its rotation speed is gradually slowing. In addition, tidal friction caused by the moon’s gravity tugging on the Earth’s ocean also throws off the length of the planet’s rotation. More constant than the earth’s rotation are atomic clocks, which measure the regular and super-precise vibration of cesium atoms. In 1972, the “leap second” was introduced as a way to account for the discrepancy between actual time (as measured by atomic clocks), and the Earth’s rotation. Since 1972, a [leap second has been added 26 times](http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2016/0707/Why-a-leap-second-will-make-2016-just-a-bit-longer). This is just the latest. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4619842/new-years-eve-day-2016-leap-second/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4619842/new-years-eve-day-2016-leap-second/"},"headline":"Just Want 2016 to End Already? 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