In the context of a 24-hour day representing Earth's history, when did the discovery of oil occur?

The discovery of oil, when thought of in the context of a 24-hour day representing the entire history of the Earth, refers to a relatively recent event. The Earth is approximately 4.5 billion years old, and human civilization has only been around for a tiny fraction of that time.

In this analogy, the discovery of oil, which is relatively modern (occurring in the 19th century), would fall into the very last moments of that 24-hour day. Specifically, saying it occurred in the last quarter of a second underscores how recent this discovery is compared to the entirety of Earth's history. This perspective highlights the rapid pace of human development in contrast to the vastness of geological time, illustrating how monumental advancements or discoveries, like oil exploration and extraction, are just a blip in the grand timeline of the planet. Therefore, it emphasizes how significant aspects of our modern world arise in an astonishingly short time frame relative to Earth's age.