1972 Was The Longest Year In Modern History

The year 1972 was a long one – and not just for Richard Nixon, whose ill-fated presidency was starting its death spiral amid the Watergate scandal. The Godfather hit cinemas, humans walked on the Moon for the last time in the 20th century, and Bloody Sunday inflamed “The Troubles” in Northern Ireland. The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content.

But it wasn’t just the events of 1972 that made it feel lengthy. It was a leap year, so it already had an extra 24 hours compared to most years. On top of that, it also witnessed the addition of two leap seconds: one added on June 30 and another on December 31.

In short, this made it 24 hours and 2 seconds longer than a “typical day”. The year totaled 31,622,402 seconds in length, compa