Original image, Getty Images
In 1883, railroad companies in the United States and Canada changed the time in both countries, creating the original world clock time difference.
For centuries before this time, many people around the world measure time according to where the sun is in the sky, such as morning or midday, evening or evening, depending on where the sun is in the sky in each town or village.
Clocks were first found between the 13th and 15th centuries.
Cities used to set their clocks based on the position of the sun, which made each city have a different time than another.
This process continued until the 1800s, when there were 144 different times in North America.
Since many people do not make long journeys (mostly they make the journeys on horses and camels) this issue of time difference does not cause any problem, until after the appearance of railways.
Jon Goldman, president of the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States, said that in the mid-1800s, when railroads began to flourish in the United States and Canada, passengers were transported between continents. From here, the idea of creating a fixed time clock that the world will rely on was started.
Original image, B&O Railroad Museum
“The time difference in different countries has created a big problem for the railways,” he said.
“At first, people miss the train, and worse, there is a possibility that the trains will collide with each other when they are traveling on the same road.”
At this time, Britain – which developed the modern railway industry – also faced a similar problem.
As the railways began to connect cities and towns, it became impossible for the stations to plan the arrival and departure times of each train based on the departure times.
By 1847, all British railway companies were using a common term, “Railway Time” in their communications.
The new method of keeping time (now called Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)) was adopted across the country in 1880, making Great Britain the first country to standardize clock time.
Original image, Alamy
GMT is the beginning of time measurement, which is located on a hill in Greenwich Park in South East London.
Travelers still go to this place called the “time center” in London where they will part their feet in the middle of the line that divides the east and the west of the world.
Timekeeping across the UK has increased consistency and reduced train accidents and helped passengers get where they need to go.
As a result, it did not take long before this idea spread to the north of America.
But unlike Great Britain, which has the same time throughout the country, Amukra and Canada need to create a way to adjust the time across the continent.
In 1879, a railroad engineer named Sir Sanford Fleming came up with a revolutionary idea after a train wreck: Creating different times.
On November 18, 1883, the railroad companies of the United States and Canada adopted Fleming’s proposal, but because of the size of the North American continent, it was decided to create four different times: Including Eastern and Central clocks and Mountain (Western) and and the Pacific, and each of them has not yet changed.
Original image, Getty Images
“After creating a standard schedule, there have been fewer train accidents,” Goldman said.
A year later, Fleming helped organize the International Conference on Standardization in Washington DC, where GMT was chosen as the international time standard.
In the northern part of the United States, the towns and cities of the region, which have enjoyed the development and opportunities from the railways, have been quick to accept their own time.
The federal government of the United States was a little slow to accept these terms, but in 1918 it accepted them.
Time management is one of the things that the availability of railways has provided.
As railroads helped transport people and spread ideas around the world, there was an increased need for long-distance communication.
Not only was the first message sent by telegraph, but the first time a message was sent by telegraph, from the United States Capitol to the Mount Clare Railroad Station in Baltimore, which is now the site of the B&O Railroad Museum.
And as Britain looks forward to the year 2025, when it is planned to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the advent of modern rail transport, this is the most appropriate time to remember how the times of each part of the world are set.
