12-hour clock
Time counting system / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about 12-hour clock?
Summarize this article for a 10 years old
The 12-hour clock is a time convention in which the 24 hours of the day are divided into two periods: a.m. (from Latin ante meridiem, translating to "before midday") and p.m. (from Latin post meridiem, translating to "after midday").[1][2] Each period consists of 12 hours numbered: 12 (acting as 0),[3] 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11. The 12-hour clock was developed from the second millennium BC and reached its modern form in the 16th century.
The 12-hour time convention is common in several English-speaking nations and former British colonies, as well as a few other countries. There is no widely accepted convention for how midday and midnight should be represented: in English-speaking countries, "12 p.m." indicates 12 o'clock noon, while "12 a.m." means 12 o'clock midnight.[4][5][6]
| 12-hour | 24-hour |
|---|---|
| Midnight (start of day) 12 midnight 12:00 a.m.[lower-alpha 1] | 00:00 |
| 12:01 a.m. | 00:01 |
| 1:00 a.m. | 01:00 |
| 11:00 a.m. | 11:00 |
| 11:59 a.m. | 11:59 |
| Noon 12 noon 12:00 p.m.[lower-alpha 1] | 12:00 |
| 12:01 p.m. | 12:01 |
| 1:00 p.m. | 13:00 |
| 11:00 p.m. | 23:00 |
| 11:59 p.m. | 23:59 |
| Midnight (end of day) or shown as start of next day[lower-alpha 1] | 24:00
(00:00) |