All around the world, people rely on accurate timekeeping for everything from international business to flight schedules, stock trading, and even syncing their morning alarms. In many ways, civilization itself hinges on getting the time right.
For us at timeanddate.com, making sure time is accurate and reliable isn’t just important—it’s a mission.
A Timekeeping Tightrope
At first glance, keeping time might not seem like rocket science, but dive deeper, and you’ll quickly discover it’s a labyrinth of complexities.
Aparna Kher, our Research Team Lead, shares that one of her favourite shows, The West Wing, features an episode showcasing how confusing timekeeping can be and how it affects daily life:
“Several main characters miss their flight because they forget that Indiana has two time zones, with only one side observing Daylight Saving Time. The episode, set in 2002, reflects the state’s complex timekeeping at the time.
Since then, most of Indiana—except for a few counties—has transitioned to the Central Time Zone and now observes Daylight Saving Time. This episode perfectly illustrates how confusing timekeeping can be. Fortunately, today, resources like timeanddate.com help us avoid such mistakes.”
Aparna Kher, Research Team Lead
Things Get Complicated Fast
Time zones, historical oddities, and even politics can throw unexpected wrenches into the gears of global timekeeping.
Take Eucla, a tiny town in Western Australia. It doesn’t quite follow the usual time zone conventions; instead, it has its unique offset: UTC+8:45. This is just one of several examples of time zones with both 45-minute and 30-minute offsets.
Lead Editor Konstantin Bikos, who is also an adventurer and globetrotter, has experienced some of these firsthand:
“There are places where time on the ground doesn’t match the official time zone at all. I once researched Nagorno-Karabakh in South Caucasus, which, in practice, operates on Armenian time, but officially, it’s still tied to Azerbaijan’s time zone. I had to call a hotel reception to ask what the time actually was.”
Konstantin Bikos, Lead Editor
Multiply quirks like that across the world, and it’s easy to see how things get complicated fast.
Timekeeping Anomalies of the Past
Some of our tools, like our Time Zone Converter, also require us to get the time right for past dates, and the history of timekeeping is riddled with even more oddities. During World War II, for example, some countries, like the United Kingdom, adopted double Daylight Saving Time (DST), shifting clocks forward by two hours to maximize evening sunlight.
Stating the time in the far past is even more complex because UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) didn’t exist yet.
The world relied on solar time—essentially aligning the time of day with the position of the Sun—so every town had its own local time.
From Solar Time to Atomic Precision
UTC revolutionized global timekeeping, but even today, it’s a balancing act between International Atomic Time (TAI) and Universal Time (UT1).
Every now and then, a leap second needs to be added to account for Earth’s irregular rotation. This creates a minute with 61 seconds, which is actually quite a challenge for the programs designed to keep our clocks ticking.
This is where the leap smear comes in: Instead of adding a second there and then, our clocks are slowed down very slightly over the course of the day to account for the additional second. This approach was first publicly discussed by Google in 2011, ahead of a scheduled leap second event in 2012.
Time, Politics, and Sudden Changes
Sometimes, timekeeping can intersect with politics, creating some challenges.
In 2024, Ukraine voted to abolish DST to align with Europe rather than Russia, while the time difference between India and Pakistan (5 hours 30 minutes vs. 5 hours) reflects broader political divides. Ensuring the accuracy of time in politically sensitive regions often requires navigating language barriers, outdated government websites, and local expertise—a challenge our team knows well:
“We recently encountered a time zone news item in Ukraine where the majority of media outlets jumped the gun and misunderstood the initial communications. In contrast, we took a more methodical approach and also consulted a Ukrainian national who worked in a different department within the company. This enabled us to publish a more accurate article,” says researcher Mathew Gundersen.
He points out the importance of carefully navigating language differences when researching time zone changes:
“Language barriers often pose challenges when researching time zone changes, as official announcements, legislations, and media reports are often published in the local language. It is important to take the time to interpret sources correctly and utilize the tools or resources available to do so.”
Mathew Gundersen, Researcher
When it comes to sudden changes, the Palestinian government tends to move the DST dates around. This is one example of how religious observances like Ramadan can influence timekeeping decisions, as DST is paused or modified during the holy month.
No Complete Agreement on the Calendar Year
But we don’t just need to get the time right—in some cases, we need to worry about the date, too! The Gregorian calendar, introduced to replace the inaccurate Julian calendar, took over three centuries to gain global adoption from 1582 to 1927. While it is now the most widely used calendar, a few countries, like Iran and Nepal, haven’t officially adopted it.
“Many people assume that the Gregorian calendar is universally used, but while most countries rely on it for daily business, many also use cultural or religious calendars to determine the dates of certain holidays. For example, India officially adopted the Saka calendar alongside the Gregorian calendar in 1957.
However, religious practitioners often follow different versions of the Hindu calendar to determine Hindu holidays. This can sometimes cause confusion when the official holiday dates don’t align with those recognized by religious authorities.”
Aparna Kher, Research Team Lead
Despite its near-universal acceptance as the global standard, there’s still no complete agreement on the calendar year—another reminder of how timekeeping is anything but simple. And actually, none of the calendar systems currently in use around the world perfectly reflect the length of a tropical year.
Why We Obsess Over Time
At timeanddate.com, our job isn’t just to provide accurate clocks and countdowns. It’s to navigate the complexities and controversies of timekeeping so you don’t have to.
Whether it’s tracking obscure time zones, staying on top of last-minute DST changes, or decoding century-old calendar shifts, we take pride in getting it right, says CEO Steffen Thorsen:
“Staying on top of time—literally and figuratively—is a challenge we embrace every day. At timeanddate.com, we strive to ensure that our information is always accurate, up to date, and accessible to users worldwide. Whether it’s tracking time zones, reporting on changes in Daylight Saving Time, or astronomical events, our goal is to provide a reliable and continuously updated service for everyone, everywhere.”
Steffen Thorsen, CEO
If you ever want a deeper dive into why telling time is so tricky, check out Tom Scott’s video on the topic—it’s an entertaining look at the same challenges we face every day.