Brazen effort to bring sanity to cross-continental rail travel governs many aspects of life today
American and Canadian railroads enacted time zones — a concept that schedules all aspects of life today — on this day in history, Nov. 18, 1883.
The rail industry's creation of time zones was a brazen attempt to bend time to its will.
It brought sanity to a sprawling patchwork system of local timekeeping based on the ancient method of following the sun, the system used since human time began.
"Back in the early 1800s, the sun served as the official ‘clock’ in the U.S., and time was based on each city’s own solar noon, or the point when the sun is highest in the sky," Union Pacific railroad writes in its history of time zones.
"This timekeeping method resulted in the creation of more than 300 local time zones across the country — not to mention disparity in local time depending on your location. So, for example, while it could be 12:09 p.m. in New York, it could also be 12:17 p.m. in Chicago."
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American and Canadian railroads enacted time zones — a concept that schedules all aspects of life today — on this day in history, Nov. 18, 1883.
The rail industry's creation of time zones was a brazen attempt to bend time to its will.
It brought sanity to a sprawling patchwork system of local timekeeping based on the ancient method of following the sun, the system used since human time began.
"Back in the early 1800s, the sun served as the official ‘clock’ in the U.S., and time was based on each city’s own solar noon, or the point when the sun is highest in the sky," Union Pacific railroad writes in its history of time zones.
"This timekeeping method resulted in the creation of more than 300 local time zones across the country — not to mention disparity in local time depending on your location. So, for example, while it could be 12:09 p.m. in New York, it could also be 12:17 p.m. in Chicago."
On this day in history, November 18, 1883, North American railroads create time zones, reshape global life
North American railroads created time zones to bring sanity to scheduling transcontinental travel on this day in history, Nov. 18, 1883. The system was quickly adopted around the world.
