Civilization / Foundations of Civilization

Standard Time & Time Zones

North American railways adopted standard time on 18 November 1883; in 1884 a Washington conference chose Greenwich as the prime meridian.

Before this every town kept its own solar time. At the International Meridian Conference in October 1884 delegates voted 22 to 1, with two abstentions, for Greenwich as the initial meridian; time zones themselves were left to individual states, which adopted them over the following decades.