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Leap seconds can occur only at the end of a month, and have only ever occurred at the end of a [[June 30]] or [[December 31]]. Unlike [[leap day]]s, they occur simultaneously worldwide; for example, a leap second on 31 December will be observed as 6:59:60 pm [[Time_zone#UTC-5_(EST_-_Eastern_Standard_Time)|U.S. Eastern Standard Time]].
Historically, leap seconds have been inserted about every 18 months. However, as the slowing of the Earth is irregular, it is not possible to predict more than a relatively short time in advance whether a leap second will have become necessary. Between January [[1972]] and November [[2001]], the IERS gave instructions to insert a leap second on 22 occasions. The most recent leap second was 1998-12-31 23:59:60 UTC; the interval since then has been the longest period without a leap second. On [[January 14]], [[2005]], the IERS announced that there will
NOT be a leap second at the end of June 2005, so the offset between UTC
and TAI will likely remain unchanged at least until January 2006.
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