Today, a once-in-eternity event happens. On this very day – February 13, 2008 – at exactly 6:31:30 PM (Eastern Standard Time), 1,234,567,890 seconds will have elapsed since 12:00:00 AM (UTC) on January 1, 1970.
What’s so special about January 1, 1970, you ask? Officially, it’s the moment that Unix time began. The Unix operating system uses the total number of elapsed seconds from that date to internally represent dates/time. Therefore, at 6:31:30 PM (EST) today you may proudly salute your Mac Book Pro, Linksys wireless router, or your Facebook account, because those Unix-based products and services will have reached a worthy (but admittedly useless) milestone.