standard time, help.

Im not all lost (I hope) but I do not understand the use of
std::time(0), could anyone please explain
exactly what it does as the program compiles without the
use of that function... but the time it displays is not correct.
(This actually gives a hint about the importantness of std::time(0)
but what I want is an accurate description).

Code:

#include <iostream>
#include <ctime>
int main()
{
	int hour, min, sec;
	time_t now=std::time(0);
	tm *thetime = std::localtime(&now);
	hour = thetime->tm_hour;
	min = thetime->tm_min;
	sec = thetime->tm_sec;
	cout << hour << ':' << min << ':' << sec;
}

It returns the current time. The rest of the program (after fixing typos so that it will compile) just interprets the value returned by time(0) so that it is readable for you.

I thought time(0) returned the number of milliseconds since January 1, 1970?

[edit] nevermind, i just noticed the line with std::localtime which changes everything [/edit]

ok, thanks