Why is the speaking clock called Tim?

The BT Speaking Clock has kept time since 1936, when it was also known as “TIM” -- the three-letter code short for “time” which callers dialled on old-fashioned alphabetic phones. Since its launch, only four people have leant their voice to the service.

Does Tim the speaking clock still exist?

Surprisingly, there have been only four permanent Speaking Clock voices, although temporary voices have been used on special occasions. The current voice is that of part-time voiceover artist Sara Mendes de Costa, who won the role after entering a competition launched by BT and Children in Need in 2006.

Did the speaking clock have a name?

The speaking clock in Poland is known as Zegarynka which means the clock girl. The service became first available in 1936, using a device invented and patented in Poland. It was speaking with the recorded voice of actress Lidia Wysocka.

Does the speaking clock still exist 2021?

The service was introduced 85 years ago to settle disputes over the correct time. It has had five voices since then and is still keeping meticulous time for the 12 million people who dial 123 each year – and pay 50p a minute from a landline for the privilege.

What number did you call for the speaking clock?

Find the precise time by dialling 123 to hear the BT speaking clock (Timeline). The time is announced every ten seconds.

Speaking Clock Aka Time (1954)

How accurate is the speaking clock?

The first Speaking Clock was accurate to within one tenth of a second and its modern equivalent is accurate to within five thousandths of a second. For everyday things, such as catching a train, making a doctor's appointment or getting to school on time, that level of accuracy is unnecessary.

Does dialing popcorn still work?

Currently, anyone misdialing POPCORN (POPULAR, for instance, or even POPTART) still gets the time, as long as the 767 prefix is properly dialed. As an alternative, the California Public Utilities Commission has proposed changing some of the numbers, including the time and weather, to ones that start with 555.

Can you still call a number to get the time?

Even in the smartphone age, you can still dial up the time in hours, minutes, seconds. The U.S. Naval Observatory's time-by-phone line received more than three million calls in 2015. Quick, try this: Dial 202-762-1401. Trust us, it's not a scam, but you may be surprised by what you hear.

Who is the voice of the speaking clock?

The new voice of the iconic BT Speaking Clock is Alan Steadman, a 69-year-old retired civil servant from Dundee, who has won the nationwide competition to find a new voice to mark the Clock's 80th anniversary.

Can you still call the time in Australia?

Telstra confirmed that there will be no reprieve for the 'talking clock' – the exact-time service that's been part of Australians' lives for 66 years. At the third stroke at midnight on September 30, the service, accessed by the phone number 1194, will end.

Does time and temperature still exist?

You still can. Millions of Americans grew up calling a local telephone number to find out the time and temperature — and, believe it or not, a fair number of folks still do.

Does the operator still exist UK?

If you are having problems making a call, you can contact the UK Operator on 100, or the International Operator on 155. There have been many changes in telephone numbers in recent years.

Who invented the clock and what year?

(left and center) The first pendulum clock, invented by Christiaan Huygens in 1656.

What was dial a disc?

For those of you too young to remember, Dial-a-Disc was a service run by British Telecom, in which you dialled a three-digit number and listened to a record from the Top 10 on the other end of the receiver.

When was the speaking clock invented?

The speaking clock service provides the precise time, announced every 10 seconds at any time of day or night. It began on 24 July 1936 as a service for people who did not have a watch or clock to hand. Before 1936, people used to ring the exchange operator - a real person - to settle a dispute over the time.

What was the phone number for time in California?

What that means is that people throughout Southern California will no longer be able to call 853-1212 to hear a woman's recorded voice state that “at the tone, Pacific Daylight Time will be . . .” with the recording automatically updating at 10-second intervals. “Times change,” said John Britton, an AT&T; spokesman.

What happens when you call POPCORN?

On the West Coast, the telephone time service was widely known as POPCORN, the letters that represented the numbers you had to dial—before it was discontinued in 2007.

Does 555 1212 still work?

555-1212 is still used for directory assistance and 555-4334 is reserved for assigned national use. But a set of 100 555 numbers have been officially designated for use in Hollywood, 555-0100 through 555-0199.

What happened to the time Lady?

In fact, (415) POP-CORN will still get you the time and date in San Francisco, but it's not the time lady — Joanne Daniels is retired and living in Atlanta.

Is 411 still a thing?

But here's the good news: you can actually reach directory assistance for free. Just dial 1-800-FREE-411 (or 1-800-373-3411) from your phone instead. This version of directory assistance is advertiser sponsored, so you'll have to listen to a 10-second ad before you reach an agent.

What is the most called phone number?

We stumbled upon an interesting story today. Why is (214) 748-3647 the most common phone number on the web? One of the many reasons a good programmer is worth his salt is being able to avoid issues down the road.

Does the operator still exist?

Like computers and other modern digital technologies, today's electronic exchanges occupy far less space and have many times the capacity of the earlier manual exchanges. But the operator is not entirely extinct. If you're having trouble making a call, you can still dial 100 and ask a human being for help.

Who sponsors the talking clock?

The change has been triggered by Accurist, the watchmaking company, which has sponsored the BT version for 22 years.

Who created 24 hours in a day?

Hipparchus, whose work primarily took place between 147 and 127 B.C., proposed dividing the day into 24 equinoctial hours, based on the 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness observed on equinox days. Despite this suggestion, laypeople continued to use seasonally varying hours for many centuries.

Who created time?

The Egyptians broke the period from sunrise to sunset into twelve equal parts, giving us the forerunner of today's hours. As a result, the Egyptian hour was not a constant length of time, as is the case today; rather, as one-twelfth of the daylight period, it varied with length of the day, and hence with the seasons.