Use EXTRACT and the UNIX-Timestamp

SELECT EXTRACT(EPOCH FROM TIMESTAMP '2011-05-17 10:40:28.876944') * 1000;

would give

1305621628876.94

Multiply it by 1000 to turn it into milliseconds. You can then convert it to whatever you want (decimal would be a good choice). Don't forget to keep the timezone in mind. JackPDouglas has such an example in his answer. Here is an excerpt from his answer (created being the column with your timetamp) that illustrates how to work with timezones:

SELECT EXTRACT(EPOCH FROM created AT TIME ZONE 'UTC') FROM my_table;

DISTINCT ON()

Just as a side note, this is precisely what DISTINCT ON() does (not to be confused with DISTINCT)

SELECT DISTINCT ON ( expression [, ...] ) keeps only the first row of each set of rows where the given expressions evaluate to equal. The DISTINCT ON expressions are interpreted using the same rules as for ORDER BY (see above). Note that the "first row" of each set is unpredictable unless ORDER BY is used to ensure that the desired row appears first. For example

So if you were to write,

SELECT myFirstAgg(z)
FROM foo
GROUP BY x,y;

It's effectively

SELECT DISTINCT ON(x,y) z
FROM foo;
-- ORDER BY z;

In that it takes the first z. There are two important differences,

1. You can also select other columns at no cost of further aggregation..

   SELECT DISTINCT ON(x,y) z, k, r, t, v
   FROM foo;
   -- ORDER BY z, k, r, t, v;
   

2. Because there is no GROUP BY you can not use (real) aggregates with it.

   CREATE TABLE foo AS
   SELECT * FROM ( VALUES
     (1,2,3),
     (1,2,4),
     (1,2,5)
   ) AS t(x,y,z);
   
   SELECT DISTINCT ON (x,y) z, sum(z)
   FROM foo;
   
   -- fails, as you should expect.
   SELECT DISTINCT ON (x,y) z, sum(z)
   FROM foo;
   
   -- would not otherwise fail.
   SELECT myFirstAgg(z), sum(z)
   FROM foo
   GROUP BY x,y;
   

Don't forget ORDER BY

Also, while I didn't bold it then I will now

Note that the "first row" of each set is unpredictable unless ORDER BY is used to ensure that the desired row appears first. For example

Always use an ORDER BY with DISTINCT ON

Using an Ordered-Set Aggregate Function

I imagine a lot of people are looking for first_value, Ordered-Set Aggregate Functions. Just wanted to throw that out there. It would look like this, if the function existed:

SELECT a, b, first_value() WITHIN GROUP (ORDER BY z)    
FROM foo
GROUP BY a,b;

But, alas you can do this.

SELECT a, b, percentile_disc(0) WITHIN GROUP (ORDER BY z)   
FROM foo
GROUP BY a,b;