Keep track of how many days, hours, minutes, and seconds are left until a specified event using this online countdown clock! Simply enter an end time and a start time into this calculator’s interface; it will calculate any duration differences between them and convert times to your preferred format.
Time of Day
Period of daylight as depicted on a clock; also used more generally; for instance, when saying things such as, He wouldn’t have been able to get away with that at any other time of day, or This isn’t the type of activity you should undertake at this time of day.
Time in 24-hour notation is expressed using the format hh:mm: ss (for instance, 01:23:45), wherein “hh” indicates how many hours have passed since midnight, “mm” represents minutes passed, and “ss (or ss) indicates seconds that have elapsed since midnight; sometimes abbreviated to “hd or had: mm,” while more formal settings might use “hh or had: ss.”
PGE’s Time of Day program can help you save money on energy costs by shifting use to off-peak times. Find out more and enroll now!
Daylight Savings Time
Every spring and fall, we adjust our clocks–moving them forward in the spring, then back again in the fall–known as Daylight Savings Time and practiced in many countries worldwide. While some might find it annoying, a few key benefits make changing time zones worth doing.
DST provides many advantages to our lives during summer days. Notably, it lets us enjoy additional daylight while awakening earlier and taking advantage of this extra light by having more leisurely breakfasts or strolls before work. DST may even improve sleep patterns by allowing you to go to bed at an appropriate hour each night.
There’s a widespread perception that DST was created out of necessity to meet farmers’ need for more sunlight in their fields, but in actuality, it was George Vernon Hudson from New Zealand who proposed the modern concept in 1895 – suggesting we move our clocks forward 20 minutes on successive Sundays of April and then back again for subsequent Sundays in September. Public support was overwhelming at that time, so Congress eventually adopted this policy as law in 1918.
Today, most of the world observes daylight saving time (DST), usually between March-April and September-November. Debate has swirled about whether DST should become permanent; concerns have been expressed that increased exposure to daylight may harm health and ineffective energy savings claims from studies conducted over time.
Multiple states have tried to pass legislation to end DST, but to do so, federal law would need to change. DST is not universally followed: Arizona, Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands all choose standard time instead. Our readers have shared their thoughts on this matter; some believe changing clocks wastes money, while others argue it makes life simpler by just going with it.
Daylight Savings Duration
Daylight Savings Time (DST), or daylight adjusting time (DET), is an annual practice where clocks are changed twice annually to account for increasing daylight levels. It is most widely observed during summer months in countries in the Northern Hemisphere when clocks are advanced one hour in late March or April and then set back one hour by September or October. Modern DST was first proposed by New Zealand entomologist George Hudson, who valued after-hours sunlight as part of his insect collecting hobby; Benjamin Franklin popularized it through an essay written in 1784 wherein he wrote, “early bed and early rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.”
DST typically begins on the second Sunday in March and concludes on the first Sunday in November; this varies between time zones.
Time Zones
The world is divided into various time zones, each separated from Coordinated Universal Time by an offset of one hour every 15 degrees of longitude; this represents standard deviation, and some countries may vary more or less than this amount of variation. There are currently 39 such zones found across populated regions on Earth.
The United States encompasses five time zones and 11, including its territories and other islands. Its primary zones include Atlantic, Central, Eastern Mountain, and Pacific Time Zones, with daylight saving time (DST) observed during spring, summer, and fall seasons.
Each time zone has a focal point that marks its highest latitude, with clocks set so that at noon, the sun should have reached its zenith here. As a best practice, use local time zones as pointers before consulting world maps to discover the time elsewhere.
No time zone follows an exact path; many have been modified to adapt to political boundaries. China only has one time zone but is surrounded by countries with multiple time zones.
As you travel abroad, it is vitally important that you become familiar with each country’s time zones to avoid making errors when ordering from restaurants and booking hotels; it is also helpful when communicating with clients or colleagues from distant parts of the country.
By day, time zones may seem unimportant. At night, however, their effects become more noticeable, making communication challenging with those from another continent.
With remote work and business travel on the rise, understanding time zone differences in each location is becoming more essential than ever. Understanding these variances will allow you to plan meetings more efficiently, stay in contact with clients more frequently, and ensure all parties involved remain in sync. You can use a calculator or look up information online; both methods provide accurate results.
