1 00:00:02,240 --> 00:00:06,480 Speaker 1: Hey listeners, Happy Sunday. We have a treat for you today. Yeah, 2 00:00:06,559 --> 00:00:09,720 Speaker 1: we're giving you a little bit of bonus content from 3 00:00:09,720 --> 00:00:12,239 Speaker 1: what is sort of our baby Sister podcast. I know 4 00:00:12,280 --> 00:00:14,640 Speaker 1: there's probably a better way to characterize it, uh, This 5 00:00:14,720 --> 00:00:17,320 Speaker 1: Day in History Class, which started with Tracy as the 6 00:00:17,400 --> 00:00:21,160 Speaker 1: host and now our fabulous colleague Eves Jeff Cote hosts it. Yeah. 7 00:00:21,280 --> 00:00:23,279 Speaker 1: Eves I think took it in a direction that was 8 00:00:23,320 --> 00:00:27,480 Speaker 1: a lot more thoughtful, uh and just generally lovely than 9 00:00:27,560 --> 00:00:29,600 Speaker 1: what I was able to do in the context of 10 00:00:29,680 --> 00:00:31,840 Speaker 1: also working on this show. Yea. So if you're not 11 00:00:31,920 --> 00:00:34,080 Speaker 1: listening to This Day in History Class, we absolutely think 12 00:00:34,080 --> 00:00:35,960 Speaker 1: you should, and we are going to give you a 13 00:00:35,960 --> 00:00:38,040 Speaker 1: little taste of it by running one of the short 14 00:00:38,240 --> 00:00:43,240 Speaker 1: informative episodes right here. This Day in History Class is 15 00:00:43,240 --> 00:00:48,120 Speaker 1: a production of I Heart Radio. Hi, I'm Eves, and 16 00:00:48,159 --> 00:00:51,360 Speaker 1: you're listening to This Day in History Class, a show 17 00:00:51,479 --> 00:00:56,320 Speaker 1: that makes time travel a little bit easier. Today, it's no. 18 00:01:05,400 --> 00:01:10,480 Speaker 1: The day was November eight three. At noon. North American 19 00:01:10,560 --> 00:01:14,319 Speaker 1: Railroads changed to a new time system called Standard Railway Time. 20 00:01:15,520 --> 00:01:19,759 Speaker 1: US and Canadian Railway adopted five standardized time zones so 21 00:01:19,800 --> 00:01:23,800 Speaker 1: that everyone would run on railroad time. Before this point, 22 00:01:23,840 --> 00:01:26,880 Speaker 1: communities had their own local times based on the movement 23 00:01:26,880 --> 00:01:30,520 Speaker 1: of the sun. But having all these different local times 24 00:01:30,560 --> 00:01:33,800 Speaker 1: caused a lot of confusion. As rail lines became more extensive, 25 00:01:34,640 --> 00:01:37,520 Speaker 1: each railroad adopted the time standard of its home city 26 00:01:37,600 --> 00:01:41,520 Speaker 1: or another important city on its route. Railroad timetables used 27 00:01:41,560 --> 00:01:44,240 Speaker 1: a bunch of different standards and scheduling was a pain. 28 00:01:44,880 --> 00:01:48,120 Speaker 1: Local times were a hassle for shippers, train passengers, and 29 00:01:48,240 --> 00:01:52,160 Speaker 1: ticket sellers. The multitude of time zones also made things 30 00:01:52,200 --> 00:01:55,800 Speaker 1: difficult for people who used and operated telegraphs and telephones. 31 00:01:56,760 --> 00:02:00,840 Speaker 1: The need for a new time system was clear. Astronomers 32 00:02:00,880 --> 00:02:03,880 Speaker 1: and geophysicists have been calling for standardized time for a while. 33 00:02:04,400 --> 00:02:07,600 Speaker 1: In eighteen forty eight, England, Scotland and Wales switched over 34 00:02:07,640 --> 00:02:11,840 Speaker 1: to Greenwich Mean time after scientists and mathematician John Herschel 35 00:02:12,160 --> 00:02:16,720 Speaker 1: had advocated for standardized time for years. People in North America, 36 00:02:16,919 --> 00:02:20,520 Speaker 1: including a principal named Charles F. Dowd and Sanford Fleming, 37 00:02:20,600 --> 00:02:23,640 Speaker 1: chief engineer of the Government Railways of Canada, had also 38 00:02:23,720 --> 00:02:26,160 Speaker 1: been advocating for a switch to a new time standard 39 00:02:26,160 --> 00:02:30,200 Speaker 1: in the US. In Canada, William F. Allen was Secretary 40 00:02:30,240 --> 00:02:33,200 Speaker 1: of the General Time Convention, which the railways formed to 41 00:02:33,280 --> 00:02:37,400 Speaker 1: coordinate their schedules. He championed the adoption of standard time. 42 00:02:38,520 --> 00:02:41,480 Speaker 1: In October of eighteen eighty three, the railroads agreed to 43 00:02:41,520 --> 00:02:46,400 Speaker 1: adopt five time zones, inter Colonial Time, Eastern Time, Central Time, 44 00:02:46,760 --> 00:02:51,079 Speaker 1: Mountain Time, and Pacific Time. Intercolonial time is now known 45 00:02:51,120 --> 00:02:55,040 Speaker 1: as Atlantic Time in Eastern Canada. The time zones were 46 00:02:55,040 --> 00:02:58,480 Speaker 1: based on mean sun time on the seventy nine one 47 00:02:58,520 --> 00:03:02,519 Speaker 1: o five and one meridians west of Greenwage. They were 48 00:03:02,520 --> 00:03:05,880 Speaker 1: one hour apart because fifteen degrees of longitude marks a 49 00:03:05,960 --> 00:03:09,639 Speaker 1: one hour difference in solar time. The U. S. Attorney 50 00:03:09,680 --> 00:03:13,120 Speaker 1: General issued an edict that said government departments wouldn't adopt 51 00:03:13,240 --> 00:03:16,880 Speaker 1: railroad time until they were authorized by Congress to do so. 52 00:03:18,080 --> 00:03:21,040 Speaker 1: The new standard railway time system launched at noon on 53 00:03:21,120 --> 00:03:25,160 Speaker 1: November eighteen. At that point, train conductors changed their watches 54 00:03:25,200 --> 00:03:28,680 Speaker 1: from their railroads times to the new standard times. There 55 00:03:28,720 --> 00:03:31,680 Speaker 1: was some opposition to the change, as some people felt 56 00:03:31,720 --> 00:03:34,440 Speaker 1: that daylight was being stolen from them, or that the 57 00:03:34,520 --> 00:03:38,560 Speaker 1: railroads were trying to go against nature with the new system, 58 00:03:38,600 --> 00:03:41,240 Speaker 1: and some thought that the new time system was some 59 00:03:41,400 --> 00:03:45,240 Speaker 1: ruse that watchmakers were up to to get business. Some 60 00:03:45,360 --> 00:03:49,200 Speaker 1: people were vehemently against the change, like the mayor of Bangor, Maine, 61 00:03:49,520 --> 00:03:53,280 Speaker 1: who claimed that the new time was unconstitutional and said 62 00:03:53,440 --> 00:03:57,600 Speaker 1: nobody could change the quote immutable laws of Guide. The 63 00:03:57,680 --> 00:04:01,880 Speaker 1: change also spurred legal issues. Cities were largely cooperative in 64 00:04:01,920 --> 00:04:05,200 Speaker 1: adopting the new standard time, and the press and local 65 00:04:05,240 --> 00:04:09,960 Speaker 1: officials approved the switch. The new system make coordinating schedules 66 00:04:10,080 --> 00:04:13,920 Speaker 1: much easier, and people began to organize their daily routines 67 00:04:13,960 --> 00:04:18,360 Speaker 1: according to standard railway time. This system lasted for thirty 68 00:04:18,400 --> 00:04:22,560 Speaker 1: five years until Congress intervened and enacted standard time in 69 00:04:22,640 --> 00:04:26,640 Speaker 1: Daylight Saving time in nineteen eighteen. Most of the world 70 00:04:26,640 --> 00:04:29,800 Speaker 1: had adopted international time zones by the mid nineteen hundreds. 71 00:04:31,640 --> 00:04:33,880 Speaker 1: I'm each Deathcote and hopefully you know a little more 72 00:04:33,920 --> 00:04:37,680 Speaker 1: about history today than you did yesterday. Have a hard 73 00:04:37,680 --> 00:04:40,880 Speaker 1: time staying present as you mindlessly scrolled through social media. 74 00:04:41,360 --> 00:04:44,240 Speaker 1: Lucky for you were stuck in the past. At t 75 00:04:44,680 --> 00:04:49,560 Speaker 1: D I h C podcast on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. 76 00:04:50,200 --> 00:04:54,000 Speaker 1: Our email address is this day at I heart media 77 00:04:54,120 --> 00:04:57,479 Speaker 1: dot com. I hope you liked the show. We'll be 78 00:04:57,520 --> 00:05:04,080 Speaker 1: back tomorrow with another episode. M hmmm. For more podcasts 79 00:05:04,080 --> 00:05:07,039 Speaker 1: from I Heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple podcasts, 80 00:05:07,120 --> 00:05:08,760 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.