I was a bit wrong in my previous post . MySQL 5.6 does allow you to supply a fsp with CURRENT_TIMESTAMP (thanks Roy). mysql> SELECT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,CURRENT_TIMESTAMP(6); +---------------------+----------------------------+ | CURRENT_TIMESTAMP | CURRENT_TIMESTAMP(6) | +---------------------+----------------------------+ | 2013-10-27 10:38:59 | 2013-10-27 10:38:59.182530 | +---------------------+----------------------------+ 1 row in set (0.00 sec) It however feels a bit weird to me as the CURRENT_TIMESTAMP is often used without () and doesn't look like a function. So when I tried to use a CURRENT_TIMESTAMP with a fsp of 6 it was not behaving how I expected it to be: mysql> CREATE TABLE t1 (ts TIMESTAMP DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP(6)); ERROR 1067 (42000): Invalid default value for 'ts' mysql> CREATE TABLE t1 (ts TIMESTAMP DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP(0)); Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.01 sec) mysql> INSERT INTO t1 VALUES(CURRENT_TIMESTAMP(6)); Query OK,...

MySQL 5.6 includes support for microsecode timestamp resolution , which is a great new feature. To get the current timestamp in MySQL 5.5 you could use NOW(), SYSDATE() or CURRENT_TIMESTAMP. mysql_5.5> SELECT NOW(),SYSDATE(),CURRENT_TIMESTAMP; +---------------------+---------------------+---------------------+ | NOW() | SYSDATE() | CURRENT_TIMESTAMP | +---------------------+---------------------+---------------------+ | 2013-10-26 15:46:24 | 2013-10-26 15:46:24 | 2013-10-26 15:46:24 | +---------------------+---------------------+---------------------+ 1 row in set (0.01 sec) If we run the same statement in MySQL 5.6 the output is the same. This is great for compatibility, but what if we want those microsecond timestamps? mysql_5.6> SELECT NOW(),SYSDATE(),CURRENT_TIMESTAMP; +---------------------+---------------------+---------------------+ | NOW() | SYSDATE() | CURRENT_TIMESTAMP | +---------------------+----------------...