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Diffstat (limited to 'northamerica')
| -rw-r--r-- | northamerica | 28 |
1 files changed, 26 insertions, 2 deletions
diff --git a/northamerica b/northamerica index 0bafb00a22c3..e1ed9e4a8720 100644 --- a/northamerica +++ b/northamerica @@ -24,8 +24,32 @@ # was the result of his proposals at the Convention of Railroad Trunk Lines # in New York City (1869-10). His 1870 proposal was based on Washington, DC, # but in 1872-05 he moved the proposed origin to Greenwich. -# His proposal was adopted by the railroads on 1883-11-18 at 12:00, -# and the most of the country soon followed suit. + +# From Paul Eggert (2016-09-21): +# Dowd's proposal left many details unresolved, such as where to draw +# lines between time zones. The key individual who made time zones +# work in the US was William Frederick Allen - railway engineer, +# managing editor of the Travelers' Guide, and secretary of the +# General Time Convention, a railway standardization group. Allen +# spent months in dialogs with scientific and railway leaders, +# developed a workable plan to institute time zones, and presented it +# to the General Time Convention on 1883-04-11, saying that his plan +# meant "local time would be practically abolished" - a plus for +# railway scheduling. By the next convention on 1883-10-11 nearly all +# railroads had agreed and it took effect on 1883-11-18 at 12:00. +# That Sunday was called the "day of two noons", as the eastern parts +# of the new zones observed noon twice. Allen witnessed the +# transition in New York City, writing: +# +# I heard the bells of St. Paul's strike on the old time. Four +# minutes later, obedient to the electrical signal from the Naval +# Observatory ... the time-ball made its rapid descent, the chimes +# of old Trinity rang twelve measured strokes, and local time was +# abandoned, probably forever. +# +# Most of the US soon followed suit. See: +# Bartky IR. The adoption of standard time. Technol Cult 1989 Jan;30(1):25-56. +# http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3105430 # From Paul Eggert (2005-04-16): # That 1883 transition occurred at 12:00 new time, not at 12:00 old time. |