Evolution of time standards

The history of accurate time-keeping goes alongside the history of exploring the world by sea.

After the Industrial Revolution, from mid-18th century to the middle of the 19th century, it was also directly influenced by the need for proper scheduling in a world where terrestrial transport of people and goods got faster and faster, by train first and foremost.

With the introduction of time zones, knowing the offset or time difference made distant communication and travel even more manageable.

Would you like to find out more about:

• The earliest users of accurate time instruments
• Columbus' claim about longitude
• Deciding on Longitude 0
• The international Meridian Conference
• Who attended the Washington Conference?
• "Single Prime Meridian for all nations"
• Railways - from natural time to rail time
• Useful online reference sites
• History of time zones
• The Time Ball
• Which are the most frequent questions about GMT and time
• Universal Coordinated Time (UTC)
• What is Zulu time