--- 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? You'll Have to Wait Another Second > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME The Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition The Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The day's top headlines, curated by TIME editors. The Brief brings TIME's perspective to the day's most important stories, helping readers understand not just what is happening, but why it matters. It combines original reporting and analysis with the best of TIME, spanning politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. 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The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. 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). 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