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Static Timestamp Methods

Three static methods return timestamps rather than Date objects. Because a timestamp is time-zone neutral, the same value displays as the correct local time for every visitor.

Date static methods
Method Returns
Date.now() Current time in ms since the epoch
Date.UTC(year, month, day?, h?, m?, s?, ms?) Timestamp for fields read as UTC
Date.parse(string) Timestamp, or NaN if unrecognized
Timestamps from the clock, UTC fields and stringsJavaScriptLive
const start = Date.now();                                   // ms since 1970-01-01 UTC
const stamp = Date.UTC(2026, 8, 15, 9, 30);                 // month 8 = September, in UTC
console.log(stamp, new Date(stamp).toString());
console.log(Date.parse('2026-09-15T09:30:00Z') === stamp, Date.parse('15/09/2026'));
console.log(typeof start, Date.now() - start < 50);         // elapsed-time measurement

Only ISO 8601 and the output of toString() and toUTCString() are guaranteed to parse; other formats vary between engines. For precise timing, use performance.now(), which is monotonic and unaffected by clock changes.