For ages, people used the sun to determine what time it was where they were. Every community set its clocks to noon based on when the sun reached its highest position in the sky; as a result, when it was noon in Washington, D.C., the local time in New York City was already minutes ahead. Before the days of long-distance travel, differences in local times weren’t a big deal. That changed with the rise of railroads in the 1800s. Although it was now possible to travel significant distances faster than ever before, a multitude of local times, particularly in large countries such as the United States, made things confusing when it came to train schedules.
On November 18, 1883, America’s railroads began using a standard time system involving four time zones, Eastern, Central, Mountain and Pacific. Within each zone, all clocks were synchronized. The railroad industry’s plan was adopted by much of the country, although the time-zone system didn’t become official across the United States until the passage of the 1918 Standard Time Act, which also established daylight saving time. By the mid-20th century, most of the world had adopted a system of international time zones, in which the planet is divided into 24 zones spaced at intervals of approximately 15 degrees of longitude. In 1884, delegates from more than two dozen nations met at the International Meridian Conference, held in Washington, D.C., where they chose the line of longitude running through the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, England, as the official prime meridian, or zero point of longitude. (Traveling east from the prime meridian, you gain an hour with each time zone; journeying west, time moves backward by an hour with each zone.)
Today, Russia, the world’s largest nation in terms of land mass, has 11 time zones, while China, the fourth-biggest by area, has just a single zone. Before 1949, the Chinese had five time zones, but after the Communist Party came to power in 1949 the government required the entire country to operate on Beijing Standard Time for the sake of national unity.
FAQs
Before the establishment of time zones in 1883, there were more than 144 local times in North America. The resulting time differences between adjacent towns and cities were not critical when it took days to travel from place to place.
When did the US start using time zones? ›
The history of standard time in the United States began November 18, 1883, when United States and Canadian railroads instituted standard time in time zones.
When and why did the US change to standard time zones? ›
Standard time in time zones was instituted in the U.S. and Canada by the railroads on November 18, 1883. Prior to that, time of day was a local matter, and most cities and towns used some form of local solar time, maintained by a well-known clock (on a church steeple, for example, or in a jeweler's window).
Why were time zones established in the United States in 1884? ›
The use of local solar time became increasingly awkward as railways and telecommunications improved. Time zones were, therefore, a compromise, relaxing the complex geographic dependence while still allowing local time to be approximate with mean solar time.
Why were standard time zones first adopted? ›
A person traveling from Boston to the west coast journeyed through 20 different time zones. “The confusion of time standards was the source of unceasing annoyance and trouble,” wrote the New York Herald. To reduce the confusion among customers over what time it was, the railroad managers adopted a standardized time.
When did people realize time zones? ›
Sir Sanford Fleming, a Canadian engineer, was the first person to propose the use of worldwide time zones back in 1878. His idea was to divide the world into 24 time zones that were each 15 degrees of longitude apart. The reason for this is that the earth rotates 15 degrees every hour, or 360 degrees in 24 hours.
What is the start of the time zones? ›
All time zones are measured from a starting point centered at England's Greenwich Observatory. This point is known as the Greenwich Meridian or the Prime Meridian. Time at the Greenwich Meridian is known as Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) or Universal Time.
Where did standard time start? ›
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.
What states do not change time? ›
Exceptions include Arizona (except for the Navajo, who do observe daylight saving time in the Navajo Nation), Hawaii, and the territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands.
What country has the most time zones? ›
France, including its overseas territories, has the most time zones with 12 (13 including its claim in Antarctica and all other counties ). Many countries have daylight saving time, one added hour during the local summer, but this list does not include that information.
Dozens of states continue to consider proposals to adopt either permanent daylight saving time or permanent standard time. Yet, no states have adopted a legislative change since 2022. Without new movement on proposed changes, Americans should expect clock changes to continue into 2024.
Why don't Hawaii and Arizona do daylight savings? ›
The reason why is simple. In Arizona, shifting an hour of daylight to the evening, when temperatures typically are warmest, means one more hour of air conditioning, which means increased energy consumption and more service calls by heating and air conditioning companies like Day & Night Air.
Why do we have time zones in the US? ›
Time zones were created because of Earth's rotation. The sun illuminates the Earth, but only one portion at a time. Since the sun can't rise in every part of the world at once, time zones maintain logical order and regulate day and night across the globe.
Why did daylight savings time start in 1970? ›
In the early 1970s, America was facing an energy crisis so the government tried an experiment. Congress passed a law to make Daylight Savings Time permanent year round, but just for two years. The thinking was more sunlight in the evening would reduce the nation's energy consumption.
What happened on November 18, 1883? ›
On November 18, 1883, precisely at noon, North American railroads switched to a new standard time system for rail operations, which they called Standard Railway Time(SRT).
Was daylight savings time permanent in 1974? ›
During the energy crisis of the 1970s, we tried permanent Daylight Saving Time again in the winter of 1973-1974. The idea again was to conserve fuel. It was a popular move at the time when President Richard Nixon signed the law in January 1974.
