You may have missed it. I nearly did.
But July ninth, twenty twenty-five, maybe—and I mean maybe—the shortest day in history.
What scientists mean is: it’s the shortest day since the nineteen sixties, when we got an atomic clock.
Because this record doesn’t account for the thousands—if not millions—of years the planet has gone round and round.
Back when people told time by the sun, the wind, and how long their body could keep going.
With this I can’t help but wonder about the shortest days of our lives.
For me they’re filled with joy, pressure, accomplishment and exhilaration. Those days vanish before I even realized they mattered, too fast to hold.
And then there are the others. The longest days of our lives. For me they stretch.
It shows up in goodbyes. In disappointment. In waiting rooms. In voicemails. In silence. In tears.
For everything there is a season, they say.
So sure, the Earth is spinning faster.
But time? Time is something else entirely.
So what’s the shortest day you ever lived? And what’s the longest?
Let me know in the comments and check out more at jamesabrown dot net.
On that note, I’m James A. Brown, and as always—be well.
Sources:
• TimeandDate.com: “Earth Will Spin Unusually Quickly in July and August” (2025)
• Nature Study by Duncan Agnew, Scripps Institution of Oceanography
• Live Science: “Earth is going to spin much faster over the next few months” (July 2025)
• NPR: “Negative leap second: Climate change delays unusual step for time standard” (March 2024)
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