Editing Standard time

{{Short description|Synchronization of clocks within a geographical region}}
{{About|time synchronisation in a given area|the concept used in industrial engineering|Standard time (manufacturing)|the album by Laurence Juber|Standard Time (album){{!}}''Standard Time'' (album)}}
{{Distinguish|Time standard|Winter time (clock lag)}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2022}}

[[File:World Time Zones Map.png|thumb|right|Worldwide time zones at present]]

'''Standard time''' is the synchronization of clocks within a geographical region to a single time standard, rather than a [[local mean time]] standard. Generally, standard time agrees with the local mean time at some meridian that passes through the region, often near the centre of the region. Historically, standard time was established during the 19th century to aid [[weather forecasting]] and train travel. Applied globally in the 20th century, the geographical regions became [[time zone]]s. The standard time in each time zone has come to be defined as an [[UTC offset|offset from Universal Time]]. A further offset is applied for part of the year in regions with [[daylight saving time]].

The adoption of standard time, because of the inseparable correspondence between [[longitude]] and time, solidified the concept of halving the globe into the [[Eastern Hemisphere]] and the [[Western Hemisphere]], with one [[IERS Reference Meridian|Prime Meridian]] replacing the [[Prime meridian#History|various prime meridians]] that had previously been used.

==History of standard time==
During the 19th century, scheduled steamships and trains required time standardisation in the industrialized world.

===Great Britain===
A standardised time system was first used by British railways on 1 December 1847, when they switched from local mean time, which varied from place to place, to [[Greenwich Mean Time]] (GMT). It was also given the name [[railway time]], reflecting the important role the railway companies played in bringing it about. The vast majority of Great Britain's public clocks were standardised to GMT by 1855.

===North America===
[[File:Allegheny Observatory (8098380656).jpg|thumb|Telegraphic equipment used to transmit standard time from the [[Allegheny Observatory]]]]
{{See also|Standard time in the United States}}
Until 1883, each United States railroad chose its own time standards. The [[Pennsylvania Railroad]] used the "Allegheny Time" system, an astronomical timekeeping service which had been developed by [[Samuel Pierpont Langley]] at the [[University of Pittsburgh]]'s [[Allegheny Observatory]] (then known as the [[Western University of Pennsylvania]], located in [[Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania]]). Instituted in 1869, the Allegheny Observatory's service is believed to have been the first regular and systematic system of time distribution to railroads and cities as well as the origin of the modern standard time system.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nbAaAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA248 |publisher=[[National Academy of Sciences]]|page=248|title=Biographical Memoir of Samuel Pierpont Langley, 1834–1906|first=Charles Doolittle|last=Walcott|year=1912|access-date=September 10, 2013}}</ref> By 1870 the Allegheny Time service extended over 2,500 miles with 300 telegraph offices receiving time signals.<ref>{{cite book|url=http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/butowsky5/astro4m.htm|title=Astronomy and Astrophysics|chapter=Allegheny Observatory|first=Harry|last=Butowsky|publisher=[[National Park Service]]|date=1989|access-date=September 10, 2013}}</ref>

However, almost all railroads out of New York ran on New York time, and railroads west from Chicago mostly used Chicago time, but between Chicago and Pittsburgh/Buffalo the norm was Columbus time, even on railroads such as the PFtW&C and [[LS&MS]], which did not run through Columbus. The [[Santa Fe Railroad]] used [[Jefferson City, Missouri|Jefferson City]] (Missouri) time all the way to its west end at [[Deming, New Mexico]], as did the east–west lines across Texas; Central Pacific and Southern Pacific Railroads used San Francisco time all the way to [[El Paso, Texas|El Paso]]. The [[Northern Pacific Railroad]] had seven time zones between St. Paul and the 1883 west end of the railroad at [[Wallula, Washington|Wallula Jct]]; the Union Pacific Railway was at the other extreme, with only two time zones between [[Omaha]] and Ogden.<ref>October 1883 Travelers Official Guide</ref>

In 1870, [[Charles F. Dowd]] proposed four time zones based on the [[Meridian (geography)|meridian]] through [[Washington, DC]], for North American railroads.<ref>''Charles F. Dowd, A.M., Ph.D.; a narrative of his services ...'', ed. Charles North Dowd, (New York: Knickerbocker Press, 1930)</ref> In 1872 he revised his proposal to base it on the [[Prime meridian (Greenwich)|Greenwich meridian]]. [[Sandford Fleming]], a Scottish-born Canadian engineer, proposed worldwide Standard Time at a meeting of the [[Royal Canadian Institute]] on February 8, 1879.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.heritagetrust.on.ca/CMSImages/c8/c8b97b26-68b6-4d2d-955b-503fdfc7ef71.pdf|title=Sir Sandford Fleming 1827–1915|publisher=Ontario Heritage Foundation|access-date=6 February 2014|archive-date=9 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140709030614/http://www.heritagetrust.on.ca/CMSImages/c8/c8b97b26-68b6-4d2d-955b-503fdfc7ef71.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Cleveland Abbe]] advocated standard time to better coordinate international weather observations and resultant [[weather forecasting|weather forecasts]], which had been coordinated using local [[solar time]]. In 1879 he recommended four time zones across the [[contiguous United States]], based upon [[Greenwich Mean Time]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ametsoc.org/atmospolicy/bamshistoryclevelandabbe.html|title=Cleveland Abbe and American Meteorology: 1871–1901|author=Edmund P. Willis|author2=William H. Hooke|name-list-style=amp|date=11 May 2009|access-date=29 August 2011|publisher=[[American Meteorological Society]]|archive-date=18 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111118131938/http://ametsoc.org/atmospolicy/BAMSHistoryClevelandAbbe.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> The General Time Convention (renamed the [[American Railway Association]] in 1891), an organization of US railroads charged with coordinating schedules and operating standards, became increasingly concerned that if the US government adopted a standard time scheme it would be disadvantageous to its member railroads. William F. Allen, the Convention secretary, argued that North American railroads should adopt a five-zone standard, similar to the one in use today, to avoid government action. On October 11, 1883, the heads of the major railroads met in [[Chicago]] at the [[Grand Pacific Hotel (Chicago)|Grand Pacific Hotel]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/jmchuff/2300547449|title=Standard time system plaque|work=Flickr|date=15 December 2005 }}</ref> and agreed to adopt Allen's proposed system.

[[File:Ladd Observatory Standard Time.jpg|thumb|right|A clock that was adjusted to Eastern Standard Time. It was made in the mid-1890s.]]
The members agreed that on Sunday, November 18, 1883, all United States and Canadian railroads would readjust their clocks and watches to reflect the new five-zone system on a telegraph signal from the Allegheny Observatory in Pittsburgh at exactly noon on the 90th meridian.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www3.jsonline.com/bym/career/feb04/207786.asp|title=When it comes to time zones in the United States, it's all business|newspaper=[[Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]]|first=J. Robert|last=Parkinson|date=February 15, 2004|access-date=September 10, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060725090913/http://www2.jsonline.com/bym/career/feb04/207786.asp|archive-date=July 25, 2006}}</ref><ref name=Allen>W. F. Allen, [http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?u=1&num=25&seq=29&view=image&size=100&id=njp.32101058411487 "History of the movement by which the adoption of standard time was consummated"], ''Proceedings of the American {{not a typo|Metrological}} Society'' 4 (1884) 25–50, Appendix 50–89. Hathi Trust Digital Library.</ref><ref name="O'Malley">Michael O'Malley, ''Keeping Watch: A History of American Time'' (NY 1990) chapter three</ref> Although most railroads adopted the new system as scheduled, some did so early on October 7 and others late on December 2. The [[Intercolonial Railway]] serving the Canadian maritime provinces of [[New Brunswick]] and [[Nova Scotia]] just east of [[Maine]] decided not to adopt Intercolonial Time based on the 60th meridian west of Greenwich, instead adopting Eastern Time, so only four time zones were actually adopted by American and Canadian railroads in 1883.<ref name=Allen/> Major American observatories, including the Allegheny Observatory, the [[United States Naval Observatory]], the [[Harvard College Observatory]], and the [[Yale University Observatory]], agreed to provide telegraphic time signals at noon Eastern Time.<ref name=Allen/><ref name="O'Malley"/>

Standard time was not enacted into US law until the [[1918 Standard Time Act]] established standard time in time zones; the law also instituted daylight saving time (DST). The daylight saving time portion of the law was repealed in 1919 over a presidential veto, but was re-established nationally during World War II.<ref name="Atlas">{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalatlas.gov/mld/timeznp.html|title=Time Zones of the United States|date=January 27, 2011|publisher=US Department of the Interior|access-date=September 23, 2011|archive-date=September 26, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110926194028/http://www.nationalatlas.gov/mld/timeznp.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="crswikileak">[[wikisource:Congressional Research Service Report RS22284 Daylight Saving Time|Congressional Research Service.]] (2007). "Daylight Saving Time". (Report RS22284)). Originally published by wikileaks.</ref> In 2007 the US enacted a federal law formalising the use of [[Coordinated Universal Time]] as the basis of standard time, and the role of the [[Secretary of Commerce]] (effectively, the [[National Institute of Standards and Technology]]) and the [[United States Navy|Secretary of the Navy]] (effectively, the [[United States Naval Observatory|US Naval Observatory]]) in interpreting standard time.<ref>21st Century Competitiveness Act of 2007, Section 3013. [http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=110_cong_bills&docid=h2272enr H.R. 2272: 110th CONGRESS House Bills], January 4, 2007.</ref>

In 1999, standard time was inducted into the [[North America Railway Hall of Fame]] in the category "National: Technical Innovations."<ref>[//www.narhf.org/?p=5412 North America Railway Hall of Fame: Inductee – Standard Time] | Standard Time inducted into North America Railway Hall of Fame, 1999</ref>

The [[Dominion of Newfoundland]], whose capital St. John's falls almost exactly midway between the meridians anchoring the [[Atlantic Time Zone]] and the [[UTC-03:00|Greenland Time Zone]], voted in 1935 to create a half-hour offset time zone known as the [[Newfoundland Time Zone]], at three and a half hours behind Greenwich time.

=== The Netherlands ===
{{unreferenced section|date=February 2017}}
In the Netherlands, introduction of the railways made it desirable to create a standard time. On 1 May 1909, [[UTC+00:20|Amsterdam Time]] or Dutch Time was introduced. Before that, time was measured in different cities; in the east of the country, this was a few minutes earlier than in the west. After that, all parts of the country had the same local time—that of the Wester Tower in [[Amsterdam]] (Westertoren/4°53'01.95" E). This time was indicated as GMT +0h 19m 32.13s until 17 March 1937, after which it was simplified to GMT+0h20m. This time zone was also known as the ''Loenen time'' or ''Gorinchem time'', as this was the exact time in both [[Loenen aan de Vecht|Loenen]] and [[Gorinchem]]. At noon in Amsterdam, it was 11:40 in [[London]] and 12:40 in [[Berlin]].

The shift to the current [[Central European Time]] zone took place on 16 May 1940. The German occupiers ordered the clock to be moved an hour and forty minutes forward. This time was kept in summer and winter throughout 1941 and 1942. It was only in November 1942 that a different Winter time was introduced, and the time was adjusted one hour backwards. This lasted for only three years; after the liberation of the Netherlands in 1945, Summer time was abolished for over thirty years, so during those years, standard time was 40 minutes ahead of the original Amsterdam Time. As of 2017, the Netherlands is in line with Central European Time (GMT+1 in the winter, GMT+2 in the summer, which is significantly different from Amsterdam Time).

=== New Zealand ===
{{Main|Time in New Zealand}}

In September 1868, New Zealand was the first country in the world to establish a nationwide standard time.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/timekeeping|title=Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand – Timekeeping|last=Phillips|first=Jock|website=www.teara.govt.nz|language=en|access-date=2 November 2018}}</ref>

A [[telegraph]] cable between New Zealand's two main islands became the instigating factor for the establishment of "New Zealand time". In 1868, the Telegraph Department adopted "[[Wellington]] time" as the standard time across all their offices so that opening and closing times could be synchronised. The Post Office, which usually shared the same building, followed suit. However, protests that time was being dictated by one government department, led to a resolution in parliament to establish a standard time for the whole country.

The director of the Geological Survey, [[James Hector]], selected New Zealand time to be at the meridian 172°30′E. This was very close to the country's mean [[longitude]] and exactly 11.5 hours in advance of Greenwich Mean Time. It came into effect on 2 November 1868.

For over fifty years, the [[Colonial Time Service Observatory]] in Wellington, determined the correct time each morning. At 9 a.m. each day, it was transmitted by [[Morse code]] to post offices and railway stations around the country. In 1920, radio time signals began broadcasting, greatly increasing the accuracy of the time nationwide.

==See also==
*[[Daylight saving time]]
*[[International Meridian Conference]] of 1884
*[[Mecca Time]]
*[[Time standard]]
*[[Time zone]]
*[[Universal Time]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite journal|author=Ian R. Bartky|title=The adoption of standard time|journal=Technology and Culture|volume=30|issue=1|date=January 1989|pages=25–56|doi=10.2307/3105430|jstor=3105430|s2cid=111724161 |url=https://zenodo.org/record/1235143|ref=none}}
*{{cite journal|author=Eviatar Zerubavel|author-link=Eviatar Zerubavel|title=The standardization of time: a sociohistorical perspective|journal=The American Journal of Sociology|volume=88|issue=1|date=July 1982|pages=1–23|doi=10.1086/227631|jstor=2779401|s2cid=144994119|ref=none}}
*{{cite web|url=http://physics.nist.gov/GenInt/Time/world.html|title=World Time Scales|date=2002|publisher=National Institute of Standards and Technology Physics Laboratory|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19970729054246/http://physics.nist.gov/GenInt/Time/world.html|archive-date=July 29, 1997|ref=none}}

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[[Category:Time scales]]