Hidden seconds
Leap seconds keep atomic time in phase with Earth’s rotation, so some minutes can have 61 seconds.
Chronology Lab
Shareable facts and oddities to spark conversations about calendars and clocks.
Leap seconds keep atomic time in phase with Earth’s rotation, so some minutes can have 61 seconds.
Gregorian reform skipped ten days in 1582; Italy stepped from Oct 4 to Oct 15 overnight.
Islamic calendars drift through seasons because twelve lunar months total ~354 days, so Ramadan cycles every 33 years.
Nepal uses UTC+5:45, one of the few 45-minute offsets—such zones exist where local politics shaped the clock.
Keep the downloadable lore file (`assets/data/timekeeping-lore.md`) handy to refresh these stories ahead of team gatherings.