[Grammar] Meaning of "To This Day"

[thamme]

A question about the phrase "to this day" here:

They started appearing even before his death on 17 August 1786, and they still crop up to this day.

Should "to this day" be read in the sense of "to a point in time" ("he worked from 1 pm to midnight") or "at a point in time" (at this moment)?

 

[MikeNewYork]

It means to the present day, until now.

 

[thamme]

But the part "and they still crop up to this day" is in present tense. Would using the present perfect tense, like "they still have cropped up to this day" be better, because the present perfect suggests the action started in the past and is still ongoing, but the present tense only refers to the present time?

 

[MikeNewYork]

Not for me.

 

[thamme]

Could it be that "they still crop up to this day"= "they still crop up even now" ?

 

[Rover_KE]

Yes.