What are time zones for? Time zones - where the time difference comes from. Changeover to summer and winter time
The planet Earth, rotating around its axis, is illuminated by the Sun at different times in different areas, so noon comes for everyone at the right time. In order to take into account these time differences, time zones were invented.
How many time zones are there in the world
There are two concepts of time zones:
- Geographic. These are conditional strips - meridians, having a width and separating the earth's surface. How many time zones are there on earth? There are 24 of them in total. The zero meridian is considered to be passing through the London Greenwich Observatory.
- Administrative. They are also called time zones. Each of them has its own standard timeestablished by law. These are territories of the earth's surface, formed taking into account the rotation of the planet Earth and having the same local time. They differ next from the previous one by an hour. How many time zones are there in the world? There are 24 of them, respectively. They practically coincide with geographic time zones. And the reference point is also the Greenwich meridian. And the time within its zone is usually called "world time". The countdown goes from west to east.
The boundaries of time zones pass along major rivers, administrative and interstate borders.
Changeover to summer and winter time
There is also a system for switching to summer and winter time. In the first case - an hour ahead, and in the second - an hour ago. EU countries, as well as Turkey, Egypt and many others use it. And Russia and most of the CIS countries have recently abandoned this system. This is due to the fact that there is a lot of evidence of its detrimental effect on human health.
Time stability is much more useful, it does not harm the human biological clock. Adaptation to a new mode of sleep and wakefulness is not required. In addition, there is no need to change schedules and reconfigure equipment for enterprises and transport services.
The history of the introduction of time zones
Until the middle of the 19th century, each large city lived according to its time. And the villages and small towns located next to it were equal to it. Then they lived according to the sun. In those days, there was no such high-speed transport as trains and planes. They rode horses and carts, and such transport cannot cover such a long distance as to cover several time zones. So, it was acceptable to determine the time by the shadow.
When they began to build railways and launched the first trains, everything changed at once. The trains covered the distance so quickly that it became difficult to draw up accurate timetables for them. It was difficult to figure out when each of them would arrive at one station or another, which was far from the point of departure. When sending telegrams, it was difficult to calculate the time for the message to arrive on time.
European countries solved this problem in their own way. They all began to live according to the same time. It was tied to the solar time of the main city. The railways and telegraphs of the Russian Empire worked according to Petersburg time. And individual cities were still counting.
The countries of the New World, as America was called at that time, were plunged into utter confusion. All the railway companies there worked on their own time. And each of the states lived in its own way. As a result, big problems arose in those cities where the railway lines of different companies passed.
The solution to the problem came later. Canadian engineer Sandford Fleming worked all his life on the railroad. He laid lines between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and, by coincidence, missed his train in 1976. After that, the engineer decided by all means to find a solution to the problem of counting time around the world.
During a meeting of the Royal Canadian Institute, which took place on February 8, 1879, Sandford Fleming proposed dividing the entire surface of the globe into 24 zones. This idea was not taken seriously. But he continued to promote it until 1884. The International Meridian Conference took place in October. It was attended by representatives of 25 countries. There, the Washington Convention on Time Zones and Universal Time was adopted. The concept of standard time was introduced. The Greenwich meridian was taken as zero. It became the starting point for longitude on nautical and geographical maps. But despite Fleming's repeated proposals to consolidate the division into time zones by this convention, this issue was not even put to a vote.
The process of introducing time zones began with the United States and Canada, and several decades passed until all countries of the world switched to standard time. It was completed in the 20s of the XX century. The reason for such a protracted process was the outbursts in some countries and cities of signs of self-government. Now it seems ridiculous, but then people fought for the fact that solar time is much more convenient and more accurate than standard time. Despite the difference in minutes, the heads of cities did not want to switch to it.
Also many times the boundaries of the meridians moved. There were cases when some cities were divided into two time zones and had a time difference of one hour.
After the collapse of the USSR, the newly formed republics decided for a long time which time zone they would belong to and whether they would make transitions to summer / winter time.
Time zones of countries
Let's find out how many time zones are divided into the most major countries peace.
The maximum number of time zones covers, oddly enough, France. The country itself is located within the same meridian, but together with its islands, it occupies 12 time zones.
The United States of America has 11 time zones.
The Russian Federation is currently located in 9 time zones. You can read more about this in the article on our website about how many time zones there are in Russia ().
Version of the functionality "Checking the time and determining the time zone of the workstation" for the end user. Theory on the time zones of the Earth. Formation of administrative time zones. Time zone maps. This simple functionality will allow you to quickly determine whether the date and time value is set correctly on the user's workstation, as well as determine the time zone (time zone).
If you want to know your time zone, check the "yes" radio button and then click the "Start process" button.
The results obtained can be seen in the table below.
The process has begun ... Please wait ...
Time zone map (for a better image, click on the map anywhere):
A little theory on the topic of time zones and time zones.
Geographic time zone - a conditional strip on the earth's surface exactly 15 ° wide (± 7.5 ° relative to the middle meridian). The Greenwich meridian is considered the middle meridian of the zero time zone.
Administrative time zone (time zone) - a section of the earth's surface on which there is a certain standard time.
Here we mean and use precisely administrative time zones, which can differ significantly from geographical ones.
The formation of administrative time zones (time zones, time zones, time zones) is associated with the goal of determining territories with approximately the same local time in such a way that the time differences between them are a multiple of one hour. The decision is reached that there should be 24 administrative time zones and each of them should roughly coincide with the geographic time zone. The starting point was the Greenwich meridian, (zero meridian, middle meridian) of the zero time zone.
Time is now set using Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), which was introduced to replace Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). The UTC scale is based on the Uniform Atomic Time Scale (TAI) and is more convenient for civilian use. Time zones around the globe are expressed as positive and negative offsets from UTC. (Negative offsets for time zones west of the prime meridian, positive offsets east.)
The basis modern system time zones are set to universal coordinated time, on which the time of all time zones depends. In order not to enter local time for each degree (or each minute) of longitude, the Earth's surface is conventionally divided into 24 time zones. When moving from one time zone to another, the minutes and seconds (time) values are preserved, only the hour value changes. There are some countries in which local time differs from world time not only by a whole number of hours, but by an additional 30 or 45 minutes. These time zones are not standard time zones.
Theoretically, the 24 time zones of the globe should be limited to meridians passing 7 ° 30 "east and west of the average meridian of each zone, and around the Greenwich meridian there is universal time. But in reality, in order to maintain a single time within the same administrative or natural unit, the boundaries of the belts are displaced relative to the meridians; in some places, some time zones even “disappear”, getting lost between neighboring ones.
At the North and South Poles, the meridians converge at one point, and therefore the concept of time zones, and at the same time local time, loses its meaning there.
Difference in time, Time Zones and others time paradoxes are quite funny. You can go to or by taking just one step! How? You will find the answer to this question in this article.
In the Pacific Ocean along the 180 meridian runs the so-called . If you cross this line from east to west, then you will immediately find yourself in tomorrow, if in the other direction, then you will fall into the past. This is how you can to travel in time 24 hours forward or backward. In this place, the present is not a very precise concept of time.
2 fact: Longest time step.
The Afghan-Chinese border is famous for its time difference regarding the countries shared by it. If you are in Afghanistan and crossed the border, that is, you ended up in China, then you can and even need to turn the clock hands 3.5 hours ahead! This could be a three and a half hour step!
There are many legends about the Himalayas and this place is considered by many to be mystical. Consider this mountain range in time, that is, how it changes over 1000 kilometers. If the traveler decided to overcome them, then he must change the time as many as 6 times: 15 minutes forward crossing the Indo-Nepal border, then 15 minutes ago - crossing the Nepal-Indian border, On the Indo-Chinese 150 minutes ahead, and on the Chinese- Bhutanese border 2 hours ago, then back again for half an hour (Bhutan-Indian border), and finally on the Indo-Myanmar one - an hour ahead.
4 fact: Japan is not the Land of the Rising Sun.
Many believe that the Japanese are the first to meet the dawn, but no! our compatriots are the first to meet the dawn. There, the dawn can be observed an hour earlier than in the so-called land of the rising sun , even the so-called GMT time will help us to be convinced of this.
5 fact: Back in time - from Monday to Sunday.
Do you want to get back on a weekend (Sunday) if it's Monday? Well, all we need is to be in the right place and time, well, 15-20 minutes by boat. The islands of Ratmanov (Russia) and Kruzenshtern (USA) are separated by only 4 kilometers, but according to Greenwich they are very divided by time - for a whole 21 hours. Here is an example of a visual situation: Everyone is working on Ratmanov Island now - there is noon on Monday, but in the USA they are still resting on Kruzenshtern Island - there are only three hours on Sunday.
6 fact: Mirror time in England and India.
Quite funny you can find out the time in India. In India, the difference with Greenwich Mean Time is 5.5 hours. This knowledge can be used if you are in England now: just turn the clock upside down and you can find out what time it is in India now.
These are the ones that exist time paradoxes conditioned time zones and state policies.
Problem solving algorithm
according to standard and local time.
Definition of standard time
Task: Determine the standard time of Magadan, if it is 6 hours in Moscow.
Actions:
1. Determine what time zone the points are in
Moscow 2; Magadan 10;
2 .Determine the time difference between items
10 -2 =8 (difference between points in time)
3. Calculate standard time (determine which point is to the east, which is to the west.) Magadan is to the east, which means there is more time there, therefore, the time difference must be added to Moscow time. 6 +8 = 14 hours
Answer: Standard time of Magadan is 14 hours.
Determination of local time
Task: Determine the local time in Magadan if it is 6 hours in Moscow.
Actions:
1. Determine the geographical longitude of the points
Moscow 37°E; Magadan 151°E;
2. Calculate the difference in degrees between points
151°-37°=114°
3. Calculate the time difference between points
114 x 4 \u003d 456:60 \u003d 7.6 hours (this is 7 hours 36 minutes, because 0.6 hours x 60 minutes = 36 minutes)
4. Determine the local time (add the time of Moscow and the time difference.)
6 + 7 hours 36 minutes = 13 hours 36 minutes
Answer: Local time in Magadan is 13 hours 36 minutes
Notes :
0.1 hour - 6 minutes
0.2 hours -12 minutes
0.3 hours -18 minutes i.t.d
Tasks for determining standard time
The plane took off from Chita (8th time zone) to Murmansk (2nd time zone) at 22:00.
The plane landed in Murmansk at 21:00. How long was the plane in flight?
Solution:
To answer the task, you need to determine the time difference in two cities. It is known that the time of each time zone differs by 1 hour. For Chita and Murmansk, the difference is
(8 - 2 = 6) 6 hours Knowing that Chita is located east of Murmansk, we conclude that in Chita
time is 6 hours more than in Murmansk. So the plane took off from Chita when it was (22 - 6 = 16) 16 hours in Murmansk, and landed in Murmansk at 21 hours. Accordingly, it was in flight for 5 hours.
Tasks:
1. The plane took off from Chita (8th time zone) to Murmansk (2nd time zone) at 15:00 local time. The flight time from Chita to Murmansk is 5 hours. What time will it be in Murmansk when the plane lands? Answer: 14 hours
2. Determine when Moscow time will land in Moscow (2nd time zone)
an airplane that took off from Yekaterinburg (4th time zone) at 11 am local time and was in flight for 2 hours. Answer: 11 am.
3. Determine when Moscow time will land in Moscow (2nd time zone)
An airplane that took off from Novosibirsk (5th time zone) at 11:00 local time and was in flight for 5:00. Answer: 13:00.
4. The plane took off at 9 am from Moscow (2nd time zone) to Yakutsk (8th time zone).
When, according to local time, will the plane land in Yakutsk, which was in flight for 5 hours?
Answer: 20 hours
5. What time (including maternity leave) will it be in Krasnoyarsk (6th time zone) if it is midnight in London? Answer: 7 hours.
6. What time (including maternity leave) will it be in Murmansk (2nd time zone) when it is 12 noon in London? Answer: 3 p.m.
7. Determine the standard time (including maternity time) of Krasnoyarsk (6th time zone), if it is 11 a.m. in London. Answer: 18 p.m.
8. What time is it in Omsk (5th time zone), when is 3 pm in Moscow? Answer: 18 hours
9. What time, taking into account maternity leave, will it be in Vladivostok (9th time zone) when it is midnight in London? Answer: 10 o'clock
To solve problems for determining standard time, it is necessary: to carefully study the map of time zones in Russia and the world. Pay attention to the time difference on the territory of Russia and the world, have clear view about standard, maternity, Moscow time; remember the location of the international date line.
The main theses of the topic: time zones of the world.
In each time zone, time is calculated according to the meridian passing through its middle. This time is called zone time. It differs from the time of the neighboring zone by exactly one hour. The belts are counted from west to east. The zero zone is taken as the belt along the axis of which the Greenwich meridian passes.
Local time is the time on one meridian at each point.
The territory of Russia is located within 11 time zones, from 2 Moscow to 12. Eleven hours separate the Kaliningrad region from Chukotka in the east.
Date line. In order to avoid confusion with the days of the year, an international agreement has established a date line. It was carried out according to geographical maps approximately along the 180th meridian, bypassing the land. If we cross this line from west to east, then we will make a T + 1 turn, i.e. T + 1 day, and, oddly enough, we will arrive yesterday. Therefore, crossing this line from west to east, we must count the same day twice. When crossing the international date line from east to west, on the contrary, skip one day.
Decree time. By a special resolution (decree) of the Council People's Commissars In 1930, standard time in the country was moved forward by one hour. This was done for a more efficient, full use of daylight hours.
Summer time. Day length increases in summer. Across the country, on the last Sunday of March, summer time: The clock hands move back one hour. In autumn, on the last Sunday in October, daylight saving time is cancelled.
Tasks for determining standard time .
1. Determine the summer time in Yakutsk, in Magadan, if it is 10 am in Moscow?
2. Determine the time in Brazil, if it is 8 hours in Moscow?
3. What system would be used to measure time on the Earth if it did not rotate around its axis?
4. The ship, which sailed from Vladivostok on Saturday, May 24, arrived in San Francisco (USA) exactly 15 days later. What date, month, and day of the week did he arrive in San Francisco?
5. It's noon on the zero meridian, and 17-00 on the ship. What ocean is the ship sailing in?
6. If it's 12:00 in London, what time is it in Moscow and Vladivostok time zone?
7. What time is it in Magadan local time, if on the Greenwich meridian line
12-00?
8. A resident of Alaska flew to Chukotka. How many hours does he need to move the hands?
9. How many times can you meet in our country New Year?
Solving problems in local and standard time.
A task №1.
At 30°E Wednesday, January 1, 18:00 local time. What is the day of the week, date and time on the 180th meridian?
Solution:
1.Find the difference in degrees and in time between 30°E. and 180 degree meridian:
180°- 30°E = 150°: 15°/hour = 10 hours (this is the time difference).
Since the 180 meridian is located east of 30 ° E, then by local time 30 ° E. (18 hours) you need to add the time difference i.e. 10 hours:
18 hours + 10 hours = 28 hours (1 day and 4 hours).
Answer:
Task number 2.
Standard time in Kyiv is 12 noon. At point A, the local time is 9:00, and at point B, it is 14:00.
Determine the geographical longitude of points A and B.
Solution:
Longitude of Kyiv - 31 ° E
For point "A"
1) 12 hours - 9 hours = 3 hours;
2) 3 hours×15° = 45°;
3)45° - 31° = 14°W.
For point "B"
1) 14 hours - 12 hours = 2 hours;
2) 2 hours×15° = 30°;
3)31°+30° = 61°E
Answer:
The longitude of point A is 14°W, the longitude of point B is 61°E.
Task number 3.
On the 180th meridian - Monday, May 15, 15:00 local time. What date, day of the week and local time at: 45°E, 150°E, 0° longitude, 15°W, 170°W.
Solution:
a) 180° - 45° = 135: 15/hour = 9 hours
9 hours is the time difference between 180° meridian and 45° east. Since 45°E located east of 180° meridian, then
Answer:
b) 180° - 150° E = 30°, 30°: 15/hour = 2 hours,
15 hours - 2 hours = 13 hours.
Answer:
c) 180° - 0° = 180°, 180°: 15/hour = 12 hours
15 o'clock - 12 o'clock = 3 o'clock in the morning.
Answer:
d) 180° + 15°W. = 195°, 195°: 15/hour = 13
given the direction of the earth's rotation from west to east:
15:00 - 13:00 = 26:00 or 2:00 am, May 15, Monday.
Answer:
e) 180° – 170°W. = 10° × 4min= 40 minutes
15 hours + 40 minutes = 15 hours 40 minutes.
Answer:
Task number 4.
The plane took off from Pretoria (ΙΙ time zone) at 15 o'clock on December 1st and flew to the northeast. After 9 hours, he crossed the 180th meridian, and after another 2 hours he landed in Honolulu (14 time zone). What time and what date will it be in Honolulu at the time of landing.
Solution:
1. Determine the time difference between cities
24 - 14 - 2 = 12 hours
2. Determine the time in Honolulu at the time of landing from Pretoria. Since Honolulu is to the west,
15 – 12 = 3 hours
3. Standard time in Honolulu at the time of landing
3 + 9 + 2 = 14 hours.
Answer:
The height of the sun above the horizon.
Determination of geographical coordinates.
Task number 1.
Determine the geographical latitude of the city if it is known that on the days of the equinox the sun at noon is above the horizon at an altitude of 63 ° (the shadow falls to the south).
Solution:
The point is in the southern hemisphere. The height of the sun on the equinox days is determined by the formulah= 90° - φ. Determine the latitude of the point φ = 90° - 63° = 27°S.
Task number 2.
At what geographical latitude is city A located if the sun at noon on December 22 (the shadow falls to the south) is at an altitude of 70 ° above the horizon.
Solution:
It follows from the condition of the problem that point A is located in the southern hemisphere, since the shadow falls to the south. The height of the sun for the summer solstice (December 22 - summer in the southern hemisphere) is determined by the formulah= 90° - φ + 23° 30"
From this formula, you can find φ the latitude of the place i.e. city A
φ = 90° - 70° + 23°30" = 43°30"S
Answer:
The geographical latitude of the city A \u003d 43 ° 30 "S.
Task number 3.
Determine the geographical coordinates of the city - the capital, located to the west of Kyiv at 27 ° 30 ". The North Star in this place is visible at a distance of 54 ° from the zenith point.
Solution:
1. The longitude of Kyiv is 30 ° 30 "E. We can find the geographical longitude of the city
λ = 30°30" – 27°30" = 3°E
2. In the northern hemisphere, the geographical latitude of any point is equal to the angle between the North Star and the horizon line. Finding latitude:
φ = 90° - 54° = 36°N
Answer:
Geographic coordinates 36°N. and 3°E
Task number 4.
In the city - the capital of the island state, the sun is above the horizon at 4 o'clock GMT during the day. During the year, the height of the sun varies from 52° to 90°. Name the city and state.
Solution:
1. Determine the time zone of the city:
12 o'clock – 4 o'clock = 8 time zone
2. Determine the geographical longitude knowing that every 15 ° time difference is 1 hour.
8 hours × 15° = 120° E
3. the city is located between the tropics, since the sun can be at its zenith (90 °)minthe angle of incidence of the sun's rays of 52 ° makes it possible to determine the geographical latitude during the winter solstice
φ = 90° - 52° - 23.5° = 14.5°
The city has geographical coordinates 14.5°N. and 120°E
Answer:
Manila, Philippines.
Time difference between Moscow and Russian cities.
Time is now set using Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), which was introduced to replace Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). The UTC scale is based on the Uniform Atomic Time Scale (TAI) and is more convenient for civilian use. Time Zones around the globe are expressed as positive and negative offsets from UTC. It should be remembered that UTC time is not translated either in winter or in summer. Therefore, for those places where there is a daylight saving time, the offset relative to UTC changes.
Principles of demarcation
The basis of the modern system of time zones is the universal coordinated time (universal time), on which the time of all time zones depends. In order not to enter local time for each degree (or each minute) of longitude, the Earth's surface is conventionally divided into 24 time zones. When moving from one time zone to another, the values of minutes and seconds (time) are preserved, only the value of hours changes. There are some countries in which local time differs from world time not only by a whole number of hours, but by an additional 30 or 45 minutes. True, such time zones are not standard time zones.
Russia - 11 time zones;
Canada - 6 time zones;
USA - 6 time zones (including Hawaii, excluding island territories: American Samoa, Midway, Virgin Islands, etc.);
in the autonomous territory of Denmark - Greenland - 4 time zones;
Australia and Mexico - 3 time zones each;
Brazil, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo - 2 time zones each.
The territories of each of the remaining countries of the world are located in only one of any time zone.
Despite the fact that the territory of China is located in five theoretical time zones, a single Chinese standard time applies throughout its territory.
The only administrative-territorial unit in the world whose territory is divided into more than two time zones is the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), which is a subject of the Russian Federation (3 time zones).
In the USA and Canada, time zone boundaries are very tortuous: it is not uncommon for people to go through a state, province or territory, since territorial belonging to one or another zone is determined at the levels of second-order administrative-territorial units.
UTC-12 - International Date Line
UTC-11 - Samoa
UTC-10 - Hawaii
UTC-9 - Alaska
UTC-8 - North American Pacific Time (US and Canada)
UTC-7 - Mountain time (USA and Canada), Mexico (Chihuahua, La Paz, Mazatlán)
UTC-6 - Central Time (USA and Canada), Central American Time, Mexico (Guadalajara, Mexico City, Monterrey)
UTC-5 - North American Sun exact time(USA and Canada), South American Pacific Time (Bogotá, Lima, Quito)
UTC-4:30 - Caracas
UTC-4 - Atlantic Time (Canada), South American Pacific Time, La Paz, Santiago)
UTC-3:30 - Newfoundland
UTC-3 - South American Eastern Time (Brazilia, Buenos Aires, Georgetown), Greenland
UTC-2 - Mid-Atlantic Time
UTC-1 - Azores, Cape Verde
UTC+0 - Western European Time (Dublin, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London, Casablanca, Monrovia)
UTC+1 - Central European Time (Amsterdam, Berlin, Bern, Brussels, Vienna, Copenhagen, Madrid, Paris, Rome, Stockholm, Belgrade, Bratislava, Budapest, Warsaw, Ljubljana, Prague, Sarajevo, Skopje, Zagreb) West Central African Time
UTC+2 - Eastern European Time (Athens, Bucharest, Vilnius, Kyiv, Chisinau, Minsk, Riga, Sofia, Tallinn, Helsinki, Kaliningrad), Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, Turkey, South Africa
UTC+3 - Moscow time, East African Time (Nairobi, Addis Ababa), Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia
UTC+3:30 - Tehran time
UTC+4 - Samara time, United United Arab Emirates, Oman, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia
UTC+4:30 - Afghanistan
UTC+5 - Yekaterinburg Time, West Asian Time (Islamabad, Karachi, Tashkent)
UTC+5:30 - India, Sri Lanka
UTC+5:45 - Nepal
UTC+6 - Novosibirsk, Omsk Time, Central Asian Time (Bangladesh, Kazakhstan)
UTC+6:30 - Myanmar
UTC+7 - Krasnoyarsk time, Southeast Asia (Bangkok, Jakarta, Hanoi)
UTC+8 - Irkutsk Time, Ulaanbaatar, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Taiwan, Western Australian Time (Perth)
UTC+9 - Yakut time, Korea, Japan
UTC+9:30 Central Australian Time (Adelaide, Darwin)
UTC+10 - Vladivostok Time, East Australian Time (Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney), Tasmania, Western Pacific Time (Guam, Port Moresby)
UTC+11 - Magadan Time, Central Pacific Time (Solomon Islands, New Caledonia)
UTC+12 - Kamchatka time, Marshall Islands, Fiji, New Zealand
UTC+13 - Tonga
UTC+14 - Line Islands (Kiribati)
Prior to the introduction of standard time, each city used its own local solar time, depending on geographic longitude. The standard time system was adopted at the end of the 19th century as an attempt to end the confusion caused by using its own solar time in any given locality. The need to introduce such a standard became extremely urgent with the development of the railway, if train schedules were drawn up according to the local time of each city, which caused not only inconvenience and confusion, but also frequent accidents. This was especially true for large areas connected by the railway system.
Before the invention of the railroad, traveling from one place to another took so much time. When traveling, time would only need to be adjusted by 1 minute every 12 miles. But with the advent of the railroad, which made it possible to cover hundreds of miles a day, timing became a serious problem.
Great Britain
Britain was the first country to decide on the establishment of one standard time throughout the country. The problem of inconsistency in local time was dealt with more by British Railways, which forced the government to unify time throughout the country. The idea was originally owned by Dr. William Hyde Wollaston (1766-1828) and was taken up by Abraham Follett Osler (1808-1903). The time was set to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) and for a long time it was called "London time".
The first to use "London time" (1840) was the Great Western Railway. Others began to imitate it, and by 1847 most British railways were already using the only time. On September 22, 1847, the Railway Clearing House, which set standards for the entire industry, recommended that GMT be set at all stations with the permission of the General Postal Service. The transition took place on December 1, 1847.
On August 23, 1852, time signals were first transmitted by telegraph from the Royal Greenwich Observatory.
Before 1855, the vast majority of public clocks in Britain were set to Greenwich Mean Time. But the process of official transition to new system The timing was held back by British legislation, which kept local time officially accepted for many more years. This led, for example, to such oddities as, for example, polling stations opened at 08:13 and closed at 16:13. Officially, the transition to a new time in Britain nevertheless took place after the introduction of a legislative act on determining the time on August 2, 1880.
New Zealand
New Zealand was the first country to officially adopt standard time throughout the country (November 2, 1868). The country is located 172° 30" longitude east of Greenwich and its time was 11 hours 30 minutes ahead of Greenwich Mean Time. This standard was known as New Zealand Mean Time.
North America
In America and Canada, standard time and time zones were introduced on November 18, 1883 as well. railways. By then, timing was a local matter. Most cities used "solar time" and the standard by which the time was set was often some well-known clock in each locality (for example, clocks on church bell towers or in jewelry store windows.
The first person in the United States to feel the growing need for time standardization was the amateur astronomer William Lambert, who in early 1809 submitted a recommendation to Congress for the establishment of time meridians in the country. But this recommendation was rejected, as was Charles Dowd's original proposal, submitted in 1870, which proposed the establishment of four time zones, the first of which passed through Washington. In 1872, Dowd revised his proposal, changing the center of reference to Greenwich Mean Time. It was this last proposal of his, almost unchanged, that was used by the railroads of the United States of America and Canada eleven years later.
On November 18, 1883, the American and Canadian railroads changed the clocks at all railroad stations according to the time zone (forward or backward). The belts were named East, Central, Mountain and Pacific.
Despite the transition of major railroads in the United States and Canada to standard time, it was still many years before the latter became the norm in Everyday life. But the use of standard time began to spread rapidly, given its obvious practical benefits for communication and travel.
Within a year, 85% of all North American cities (about 200) with a population of over 10,000 were already using standard time. Only Detroit and Michigan stood out noticeably.
Detroit lived on local time until 1900, when the City Council issued a decree requiring the clock to be set back twenty-eight minutes to Central Standard Time. Half the city complied, and half refused. After considerable debate, the decree was rescinded and the city returned to solar time. In 1905, Central Time was adopted by city vote. By a city ordinance in 1915, and then by a vote in 1916, Detroit switched to Eastern Standard Time (EST).
Throughout the United States, normal time and time zones were introduced with the passage of the Standard Time Act of 1918. The US Congress approved the standard time zones previously set by the railroads, and transferred responsibility for any subsequent changes to them to the Metropolitan Commerce Commission, and at that time the only federal agency for regulating transportation. In 1966, the authority to pass legislation relating to the definition of time was transferred to the Department of Transportation created under Congress.
The current time zone boundaries in the United States have been significantly changed from their original version, and such changes are still taking place. The Department of Transportation handles all change requests and conducts rulemaking. In general, time zone boundaries tend to move westward. For example, at the eastern end of the time zone, sunset can be replaced by an hour later (hourly) by a transition to the time zone adjacent to the east. Thus, the boundaries of the time zone are locally shifted to the west. The reasons for this phenomenon are similar to the reasons for the introduction of "maternity" time in Russia (see Summer time). The accumulation of such changes leads to a long-term trend of movement of the boundaries of the belts to the west. This is not unstoppable, but is very undesirable, since it also entails a late sunrise in such areas, especially in winter. According to US law, the main factor in deciding whether to change the time zone is "facilitating business." According to this criterion, the proposed changes were both approved and rejected, but most of them were accepted.
Where on Earth do new calendar days originate, or, in other words: where does a day begin on our planet?
We know that the entire surface of the globe is conditionally divided into 24 time zones, and the beginning of the countdown of geographic longitudes comes from the zero meridian, which many people know as Greenwich.
It is the meridian of the zero time zone, in the east of which Moscow, for example, is located with a time difference of 4 hours, i.e. UTC +4 (summer time), and on the west side, for example, in Alaska, UTC -9 hours.
So, on the world map there is also a conditional date change line, relative to which in the west and east the current date differs by a whole day. This line corresponds to the 180° meridian.
The need to delimit the Earth's surface with such a line is connected primarily in order to avoid confusion in calendar dates when moving it by air and water vehicles. Astrology, by the way, also takes into account the exact time and place of birth or the data of a particular event when you have to build a natal chart, a solarium or a transit horoscope.
The line on which the date changes does not exactly follow the strictly drawn line of the meridian 180 ° and practically does not pass anywhere on land, except for Antarctica and the ice of the North Pole. And if this happens, then the governments of the states themselves decide to which part of the earth relative to the date change line to attribute their possessions - to the east or west. More often, such a decision is associated with close economic and political ties with neighboring states, with which it is easier to do business on the same date, or within the country itself. For example, when Alaska was sold to the United States, the date was moved back one day because the dates in Russia and the United States did not match.
From the north, the date line runs along the Arctic Ocean, goes around Russia from the east, passing through the Bering Strait and separating Russia and Alaska, makes a bend to the west from the 180 ° meridian, leaving the Aleutian Islands in the east, then returns to the meridian line and follows the Pacific ocean to Antarctica. Here, the date line deviates strongly to the east only in Oceania, skirting the islands of Kiribati and others, whose inhabitants are the very first on the planet to meet the new day.
From the point of view of tourism, it is very interesting to visit, for example, the most picturesque islands of Tonga, Samoa or Fiji, located along the international date line, in order, for example, to celebrate the New Year twice, flying from west to east on a charter flight from the Tonga archipelago, where already January 1, to some island of Samoa, where the day begins on December 31.
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Time Zones. In order to regulate the differences in time resulting from the rotation of the Earth on its axis, Earth conditionally divided into 24 time zones . Without them, no one would be able to answer the question: What time is it in other parts of the world?". The boundaries of these belts approximately coincide with the lines of longitude. In each time zone, people set their clocks to their own local time, depending on the point on Earth. The gap between the bands is 15°. In the United States in 1884, Greenwich Mean Time was introduced, which is calculated from the meridian passing through the Greenwich Observatory.
The 180° East and West longitude lines coincide. This common line called International Date Line. Time at points on the Earth west of this line is 12 hours ahead of time at points east of this line. The time in these neighboring zones coincides, but traveling east you find yourself in yesterday, traveling west you find yourself in tomorrow.
Therefore, in the logbook of a ship that sails from west to east, one day must be counted twice. And a ship moving from east to west, as it were, “misses” one day, after December 31 it immediately falls into January 2.
The local time. standard time
Solar time at points located on the same meridian is called local . Due to the fact that at each moment of the day it is different on all meridians, it is inconvenient to use it. Therefore, by international agreement, standard time . The entire surface of the Earth was divided along the meridians into 24 zones of 15 ° longitude. Belt (the same within each belt) time is the local time of the median meridian of this belt. Zero belt - this is a belt, the median meridian of which is the Greenwich (zero) meridian. From it, the belts are counted to the east.
Time in Russia is regulated by the Federal Law "On the calculation of time", in accordance with which it is established 11 time zones. Moscow time (MSK, MSK) "corresponds to the third time zone in the national time scale Russian Federation UTC (SU) +3". Eleven time zones, from 1st to 11th, correspond to the international numbering of time zones from 2nd to 12th. The boundaries of the time zones pass along the borders of the subjects of the Russian Federation, each subject of the federation is included in one time zone, with the exception of Yakutia, whose territory is located in three time zones (MSK + 6, MSK + 7, MSK + 8). Daylight Saving Time does not apply (seasonal clock changes were canceled in 2011).
Table. Time zones of Russia (2018)
