# What does the seconds since 1970 block do **URL:** \ **Category:** Questions about Thunkable X\ **Tags:** help, howto\ **Created:** [November 13, 2020, 3:46am UTC](https://community.thunkable.com/t/what-does-the-seconds-since-1970-block-do/971440 "2020-11-13T03:46:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![luv.ak.tech](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/community.thunkable.com/luv.ak.tech/32/104896_2.png) [@luv.ak.tech](https://community.thunkable.com/u/luv.ak.tech)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2020, 3:46am UTC](https://community.thunkable.com/t/what-does-the-seconds-since-1970-block-do/971440/1 "2020-11-13T03:46:57Z")
there is a block called as seconds since 1970 i dont know what it do can someone explain what does it do ---
**Author:** ![tatiang](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/community.thunkable.com/tatiang/32/55482_2.png) [@tatiang](https://community.thunkable.com/u/tatiang)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2020, 4:16am UTC](https://community.thunkable.com/t/what-does-the-seconds-since-1970-block-do/971440/2 "2020-11-13T04:16:19Z")
Great question! If you are trying to determine how long it’s been since something happened, for example a button was pressed, you can either create a timer to count up from 0 or you can check to see the difference between the number of seconds since 1970 and the time the event happened. 1970 isn’t just a fabulous year, it’s also an arbitrary date that computer scientists chose because… they liked Aerosmith? If you Google _seconds since 1970_, you’ll see a lot more info about this interesting aspect of coding. ---
**Author:** ![luv.ak.tech](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/community.thunkable.com/luv.ak.tech/32/104896_2.png) [@luv.ak.tech](https://community.thunkable.com/u/luv.ak.tech)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2020, 5:02am UTC](https://community.thunkable.com/t/what-does-the-seconds-since-1970-block-do/971440/3 "2020-11-13T05:02:41Z")
@tatiang can you give me a project based on it! ---
**Author:** ![tatiang](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/community.thunkable.com/tatiang/32/55482_2.png) [@tatiang](https://community.thunkable.com/u/tatiang)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2020, 5:21am UTC](https://community.thunkable.com/t/what-does-the-seconds-since-1970-block-do/971440/4 "2020-11-13T05:21:40Z")
No I cannot! But you can make one yourself. 😃 If you can’t think of a use for it, you probably don’t need it yet. But you can always play around with the idea. ---
**Author:** ![luv.ak.tech](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/community.thunkable.com/luv.ak.tech/32/104896_2.png) [@luv.ak.tech](https://community.thunkable.com/u/luv.ak.tech)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2020, 5:35am UTC](https://community.thunkable.com/t/what-does-the-seconds-since-1970-block-do/971440/5 "2020-11-13T05:35:39Z")
ok thanks for help ---
**Author:** ![eko.devs.apploroceo](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/community.thunkable.com/eko.devs.apploroceo/32/93147_2.png) [@eko.devs.apploroceo](https://community.thunkable.com/u/eko.devs.apploroceo)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2020, 8:35am UTC](https://community.thunkable.com/t/what-does-the-seconds-since-1970-block-do/971440/6 "2020-11-13T08:35:52Z")
it might have more thn 200 no. ---
**Author:** ![drted](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/community.thunkable.com/drted/32/92694_2.png) [@drted](https://community.thunkable.com/u/drted)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2020, 11:23am UTC](https://community.thunkable.com/t/what-does-the-seconds-since-1970-block-do/971440/7 "2020-11-13T11:23:54Z")
For instance, cloudinary uses seconds since 1970 in some rest(web) api calls. I join it with the firebase user id to create unique ids for chat messages. ---
**Author:** ![itzvinie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/eb9ed0/32.png) [@itzvinie](https://community.thunkable.com/u/itzvinie)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 6:32am UTC](https://community.thunkable.com/t/what-does-the-seconds-since-1970-block-do/971440/8 "2021-10-22T06:32:02Z")
Interesting,tell me about the chat,as am still gathering ideas for a private chat in my current community app with thunkable ---
**Author:** ![ioannis](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/community.thunkable.com/ioannis/32/146956_2.png) [@ioannis](https://community.thunkable.com/u/ioannis)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2024, 12:21pm UTC](https://community.thunkable.com/t/what-does-the-seconds-since-1970-block-do/971440/9 "2024-11-08T12:21:40Z")