Prompt Cast
The Complicated History of Time Zones and Standardized Time
TLDR Time zones were created to solve the problem of different local times, but they have since become complicated. From the creation of railway time to the varying time zones within countries, the history of standardized time is filled with challenges and unique solutions.
Timestamped Summary
00:00
Time zones were created to solve the problem of different local times, but they have since become complicated.
01:55
The advent of railroads created the need for standardized time, leading to the creation of railway time by the Great Western Railway in England in 1840.
03:19
The need for a coordinated standard time for railway travel led to the adoption of a unified time zone system, starting with the Greenwich Observatory in Britain in 1852 and later in New Zealand in 1868, but it was more problematic in the United States due to its size and the borders of the time zones running through major cities.
04:53
Spain is in the wrong time zone, resulting in late sunrises and sunsets, which is due to Generalissimo Francisco Franco's decision to align their clocks with Nazi Germany in 1940.
06:30
Time differences can vary greatly within a single country, such as China, where the sun rises almost 3.5 hours later in the westernmost city compared to the easternmost city, and Russia has 11 time zones with a 10 hour difference between the Far East and Far West.
08:11
Australia has varying time zones, with some states observing daylight savings and others not, resulting in a change from 3 to 5 time zones each year, and the International Date Line can zigzag to keep countries on the same date, as seen with Samoa switching sides in 2011 and Kiribati grouping its entire country on one side in 1994.
09:40
The first part of the world to welcome in every day is a new time zone in Kiribati, and there are also fractional hour time zones, such as Newfoundland being half an hour ahead of Atlantic time in Canada and Nepal having its own time zone that is plus 5 hours and 45 minutes from GMT.
