diff --git a/core/modules/utils/utils.js b/core/modules/utils/utils.js
index bc4774fe1..743061ca7 100644
--- a/core/modules/utils/utils.js
+++ b/core/modules/utils/utils.js
@@ -354,6 +354,9 @@ exports.formatDateString = function(date,template) {
 	var result = "",
 		t = template,
 		matches = [
+			[/^TIMESTAMP/, function() {
+				return date.getTime();
+			}],
 			[/^0hh12/, function() {
 				return $tw.utils.pad($tw.utils.getHours12(date));
 			}],
diff --git a/editions/test/tiddlers/tests/test-utils.js b/editions/test/tiddlers/tests/test-utils.js
index 5ac07f1d7..8b7630a54 100644
--- a/editions/test/tiddlers/tests/test-utils.js
+++ b/editions/test/tiddlers/tests/test-utils.js
@@ -78,6 +78,7 @@ describe("Utility tests", function() {
 		expect(fds(d,"ddd hh mm ssss")).toBe("Sun 17 41 2828");
 		expect(fds(d,"MM0DD")).toBe("1109");
 		expect(fds(d,"MM0\\D\\D")).toBe("110DD");
+		expect(fds(d,"TIMESTAMP")).toBe(d.getTime().toString());
 		const day = d.getUTCDate();
 		const dayStr = ("" + day).padStart(2, '0');
 		const hours = d.getUTCHours();
diff --git a/editions/tw5.com/tiddlers/features/DateFormat.tid b/editions/tw5.com/tiddlers/features/DateFormat.tid
index ef7bcde98..db6a1f3e4 100644
--- a/editions/tw5.com/tiddlers/features/DateFormat.tid
+++ b/editions/tw5.com/tiddlers/features/DateFormat.tid
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 created: 20140418142957325
-modified: 20210912115121622
+modified: 20221121131150032
 tags: Features
 title: DateFormat
 type: text/vnd.tiddlywiki
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ The date string is processed with the following substitutions:
 |`am` or `pm` |Lower case AM/PM indicator |
 |`AM` or `PM` |Upper case AM/PM indicator |
 |`TZD` |Timezone offset |
+|`TIMESTAMP` |<<.from-version "5.2.4">> Number of milliseconds since the [[ECMAScript epoch|https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Date#the_ecmascript_epoch_and_timestamps]], 1 January 1970. |
 |`\x` |Used to escape a character that would otherwise have special meaning |
 |`[UTC]`|Time-shift the represented date to UTC. Must be at very start of format string|
 
@@ -59,3 +60,26 @@ The `{era:BCE||CE}` notation can specify different strings for years that are ne
 |`DDth MMM YYYY` |16th February 2011 |
 |`DDth MMM \M\M\M YYYY` |16th February MMM 2011 |
 |`DDth mmm YYYY 0hh:0mm:0ss` |16th Feb 2011 11:38:42 |
+
+!! Using `TIMESTAMP` to calculate time difference
+
+You can calculate the difference between two dates by doing the following:
+
+# Convert both dates to timestamps
+# Subtract the later date from the earlier one -- if you don't know which one is earlier use the <<.olink "abs">> operator to get an absolute value after subtraction
+# Divide the resulting number by the number of milliseconds in your chosen interval
+
+Here is an example of calculating the number of days that passed between creation and last modification of current tiddler:
+
+* Fields `modified` and `created` contain their respective datetimes in the format `YYYYMMDDHHMMSSmmm` so convert them to timestamps
+* `86400000` is the number of milliseconds in a day (1000 * 60 * 60 * 24)
+
+<$macrocall $name=".example" n="0" eg="""<$let 
+	timestamp-modified={{{ [{!!modified}format:date[TIMESTAMP]] }}}
+	timestamp-created={{{ [{!!created}format:date[TIMESTAMP]] }}}
+	difference-days={{{ [<timestamp-modified>subtract<timestamp-created>divide[86400000]floor[]] }}}>
+
+* ''Modified date:'' <$text text={{{ [{!!modified}format:date[YYYY-0MM-0DD]] }}}/>
+* ''Created date:'' <$text text={{{ [{!!created}format:date[YYYY-0MM-0DD]] }}}/>
+* ''Difference in days:'' <<difference-days>> days
+</$let>"""/>
\ No newline at end of file