If I recall correctly, the original time system call used a pointer to two (16-bit) ints rather than a long.  Time was maintained in the kernel that way as well.

There are other systems that ran out of “time” a long time ago.   The TOPS-10 software ran out in 1975 or so if I recall.    The Apollo domain/os ran out of time as well but I think the whole OS became obsolete before it’s time function.   The last release of the OS came out eight years earlier.