timego

Origin of "Mon Jan 2 15:04:05 MST 2006" in golang

In golang documentation, it is stated that :

These are predefined layouts for use in Time.Format and Time.Parse. The reference time used in the layouts is:

Mon Jan 2 15:04:05 MST 2006

which is Unix time 1136239445

What is the origin of this specific date ?

Solution

  • That's explained immediately after the section you quoted:

    Since MST is GMT-0700, the reference time can be thought of as

    01/02 03:04:05PM '06 -0700

    It's a simple increasing sequence: 01 02 03 04 05 (PM) 06 07.

    Using 03:04 PM rather than 03:04 AM makes it possible to show the two time representations 15:04 and 03:04PM more clearly (this is speculation on my part).