Editing Speaking clock (section)

=== United States ===
{{redirect|POPCORN|the variety of corn kernel|popcorn}}
The first automated time service in the United States began in [[Atlanta, Georgia]] in 1934 as a promotion for Tick Tock Ginger Ale. Company owner John Franklin modified [[Western Electric]] technology to create the machine that would become known as the [[Audichron]].<ref name="franklin">{{cite web|url=http://www.eyeonkansas.org/ncentral/chase/0801phone.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080807160138/http://www.eyeonkansas.org/ncentral/chase/0801phone.html|url-status=usurped|archive-date=August 7, 2008|title=EYE on Kansas Online Magazine|website=www.eyeonkansas.org}}</ref> The [[Audichron Company]] became the chief supplier of talking clocks in the US, maintained by local businesses and, later, the regional [[Bell System]] companies.

The service became typically known as the "Time of Day" service, with the term "speaking clock" never being used.  Occasionally it would be called "Time and Temperature" or simply "Time".  However, the service has been phased out in most states (Nevada and Connecticut still maintain service). [[AT&T Inc.|AT&T]] discontinued its California service in September 2007, citing the widespread availability of sources such as [[mobile phone]]s and [[computer]]s.<ref name="at&t">{{Cite news |last=Lazarus |first=David |title=Time of day calling it quits at AT&T |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=August 29, 2007 |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-aug-29-fi-lazarus29-story.html |access-date=July 22, 2011}}</ref>{{Vague|Many active numbers listed below, maybe this applies only to AT&T?|date=January 2012}} {{as of| January 2024}}, calling (202) 762-1401 from anywhere in the US will give a correct time from [[Eastern Time Zone|EST]] or [[Coordinated Universal Time|UTC time]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Telephone Time |url=https://www.cnmoc.usff.navy.mil/Our-Commands/United-States-Naval-Observatory/Precise-Time-Department/Telephone-Time/}}</ref>

For all [[area code]]s in [[Northern California]], and on the West Coast generally, the reserved exchange was 767<ref name="at&t"/> which was often indicated by its [[phoneword]], POPCORN;<ref name="The End of POPCORN">{{cite magazine | url=https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2016/06/remember-when-you-could-call-the-time/488273/ | title=Remember When You Could Call the Time? You still can, and thousands of people do it every day. | magazine=The Atlantic | date=2016-06-22 | access-date=2016-06-26 | author=LaFrance, Adrienne}}</ref><ref name="at&t"/> the service was discontinued in 2007. In other locations, different telephone exchanges are or were used for the speaking clock service.

Many [[shortwave]] [[radio]] [[time signal]] services provide speaking clock services, such as [[WWV (radio station)|WWV]] (voiced by John Doyle) and [[WWVH]] (voiced by [[Jane Barbe]]), operated by the [[National Institute of Standards and Technology]] from the United States of America. To avoid disruption with devices that rely on the accurate timings and placement of the service tones from the radio, the voice recording is "notched" clear of some of the tones.

The website ''Telephone World'' has recordings of past and present "Time of Day" services that also include temperature and weather announcements.<ref>{{cite web | title=Time/Temperature/Weather Forecast Recordings | website=Telephone World | date=January 13, 2021 | url=https://telephoneworld.org/telephone-sounds/modern-north-american-telephone-sounds/time-temperature-weather-forecast-recordings/ | access-date=January 14, 2021}}</ref>