Timestamp

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An actual time-stamp from around 1960.

A timestamp is a sequence of characters or encoded information identifying when a certain event occurred, usually giving date and time of day, sometimes accurate to a small fraction of a second. Timestamps do not have to be based on some absolute notion of time, however. They can have any epoch, can be relative to any arbitrary time, such as the power-on time of a system, or to some arbitrary time in the past.

A distinction is sometimes made between the terms datestamp, timestamp and date-timestamp:

• Datestamp or DS: A date, for example 2025-01-15 according to ISO 8601
• Timestamp or TS: A time of day, for example 10:38:18 using 24-hour clock
• Date-timestamp or DTS: Date and time, for example 2025-01-15, 10:38:18