1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:02,000 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class. It's a production of I 2 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:07,480 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hi, I'm Eves and you're listening to This 3 00:00:07,560 --> 00:00:10,719 Speaker 1: Day in History Class, a show that makes time travel 4 00:00:10,800 --> 00:00:24,040 Speaker 1: a little bit easier. Today is November. The day was 5 00:00:24,079 --> 00:00:29,680 Speaker 1: November eight three at noon. North American railroads changed to 6 00:00:29,760 --> 00:00:34,040 Speaker 1: a new time system called Standard Railway Time. US and 7 00:00:34,159 --> 00:00:38,559 Speaker 1: Canadian Railway adopted five standardized time zones so that everyone 8 00:00:38,600 --> 00:00:42,680 Speaker 1: would run on railroad time. Before this point, communities had 9 00:00:42,720 --> 00:00:45,480 Speaker 1: their own local times based on the movement of the sun, 10 00:00:46,440 --> 00:00:49,360 Speaker 1: but having all these different local times caused a lot 11 00:00:49,400 --> 00:00:53,519 Speaker 1: of confusion. As rail lines became more extensive, each railroad 12 00:00:53,560 --> 00:00:56,120 Speaker 1: adopted the time standard of its home city or another 13 00:00:56,200 --> 00:00:59,920 Speaker 1: important city on its route. Railroad timetables used a by 14 00:01:00,040 --> 00:01:03,640 Speaker 1: to different standards, and scheduling was a pain. Local times 15 00:01:03,640 --> 00:01:07,200 Speaker 1: were a hassle for shippers, train passengers, and ticket sellers. 16 00:01:08,160 --> 00:01:10,880 Speaker 1: The multitude of time zones also made things difficult for 17 00:01:10,959 --> 00:01:15,319 Speaker 1: people who used and operated telegraphs and telephones. The need 18 00:01:15,400 --> 00:01:20,000 Speaker 1: for a new time system was clear. Astronomers and geophysicists 19 00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:22,640 Speaker 1: have been calling for standardized time for a while. In 20 00:01:22,680 --> 00:01:25,880 Speaker 1: eighteen forty eight, England, Scotland and Wales switched over to 21 00:01:25,920 --> 00:01:31,080 Speaker 1: Greenwich meantime after scientists and mathematician John Herschel had advocated 22 00:01:31,080 --> 00:01:35,520 Speaker 1: for standardized time for years. People in North America, including 23 00:01:35,520 --> 00:01:39,000 Speaker 1: a principle named Charles F. Doubt and Stanford Fleming, chief 24 00:01:39,000 --> 00:01:42,000 Speaker 1: engineer of the Government Railways of Canada, had also been 25 00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:44,360 Speaker 1: advocating for a switch to a new time standard in 26 00:01:44,400 --> 00:01:48,480 Speaker 1: the US. In Canada, William F. Allen was secretary of 27 00:01:48,480 --> 00:01:51,880 Speaker 1: the General Time Convention, which the railways formed to coordinate 28 00:01:51,920 --> 00:01:56,760 Speaker 1: their schedules. He championed the adoption of standard time. In 29 00:01:56,760 --> 00:02:00,000 Speaker 1: October of eighteen eighty three, the railroads agreed to adopt 30 00:02:00,200 --> 00:02:05,560 Speaker 1: five time zones Intercolonial Time, Eastern Time, Central Time, Mountain Time, 31 00:02:05,640 --> 00:02:10,000 Speaker 1: and Pacific Time. Intercolonial time is now known as Atlantic 32 00:02:10,040 --> 00:02:13,560 Speaker 1: Time in Eastern Canada. The time zones were based on 33 00:02:13,720 --> 00:02:17,360 Speaker 1: mean sun time on the seventy one oh five and 34 00:02:17,520 --> 00:02:20,840 Speaker 1: one twenty of Meridians west of Greenwage. They were one 35 00:02:20,880 --> 00:02:24,240 Speaker 1: hour apart because fifteen degrees of longitude marks a one 36 00:02:24,280 --> 00:02:28,120 Speaker 1: hour difference in solar time. The U. S. Attorney General 37 00:02:28,160 --> 00:02:31,840 Speaker 1: issued an edict that said government departments wouldn't adopt railroad 38 00:02:31,880 --> 00:02:35,040 Speaker 1: time until they were authorized by Congress to do so. 39 00:02:36,200 --> 00:02:39,160 Speaker 1: The new Standard Railway Time system launched at noon on 40 00:02:39,240 --> 00:02:43,320 Speaker 1: November eighteen. At that point, train conductors changed their watches 41 00:02:43,320 --> 00:02:46,799 Speaker 1: from their railroads times to the new standard times. There 42 00:02:46,880 --> 00:02:49,800 Speaker 1: was some opposition to the change, as some people felt 43 00:02:49,880 --> 00:02:52,600 Speaker 1: that daylight was being stolen from them, or that the 44 00:02:52,680 --> 00:02:56,680 Speaker 1: railroads were trying to go against nature with the new system, 45 00:02:56,760 --> 00:02:59,320 Speaker 1: and some thought that the new time system was some 46 00:02:59,560 --> 00:03:03,400 Speaker 1: ruse a watchmakers were up to to get business. Some 47 00:03:03,520 --> 00:03:07,360 Speaker 1: people were vehemently against the change, like the mayor of Bangor, Maine, 48 00:03:07,639 --> 00:03:11,440 Speaker 1: who claimed that the new time was unconstitutional and said 49 00:03:11,560 --> 00:03:15,760 Speaker 1: nobody could change the quote immutable laws of guide. The 50 00:03:15,840 --> 00:03:19,880 Speaker 1: change also spurred legal issues, but cities were largely cooperative 51 00:03:19,960 --> 00:03:22,800 Speaker 1: in adopting the new standard time, and the press and 52 00:03:23,040 --> 00:03:27,520 Speaker 1: local officials approved the switch. The new system made coordinating 53 00:03:27,560 --> 00:03:31,520 Speaker 1: schedules much easier, and people began to organize their daily 54 00:03:31,600 --> 00:03:36,080 Speaker 1: routines according to standard railway time. This system lasted for 55 00:03:36,200 --> 00:03:40,520 Speaker 1: thirty five years until Congress intervened and enacted standard time 56 00:03:40,600 --> 00:03:44,480 Speaker 1: in Daylight Saving time in nineteen eighteen. Most of the 57 00:03:44,480 --> 00:03:47,960 Speaker 1: world had adopted international time zones by the mid nineteen hundreds. 58 00:03:49,800 --> 00:03:52,040 Speaker 1: I'm each deathcote and hopefully you know a little more 59 00:03:52,040 --> 00:03:55,800 Speaker 1: about history today than you did yesterday. Have a hard 60 00:03:55,840 --> 00:03:59,040 Speaker 1: time staying present as you mindlessly scrolled through social media. 61 00:03:59,480 --> 00:04:02,400 Speaker 1: Lucky for you, were stuck in the past at t 62 00:04:02,840 --> 00:04:07,720 Speaker 1: D i h C podcast on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. 63 00:04:08,360 --> 00:04:12,160 Speaker 1: Our email address is this Day at I heart Media 64 00:04:12,280 --> 00:04:15,640 Speaker 1: dot com. I hope you liked this show. We'll be 65 00:04:15,680 --> 00:04:22,440 Speaker 1: back tomorrow with another episode. For more podcasts from I 66 00:04:22,520 --> 00:04:25,320 Speaker 1: heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or 67 00:04:25,320 --> 00:04:26,920 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.