China and India are the most famous examples. Surprisingly, a select few countries that are large enough to contain numerous time zones only adhere to a single time zone. These include India, Iran, Afghanistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and certain regions of Australia. Following France is Russia with 11 time zones and the United States with 9 official time zones and 2 unofficial time zones, which also takes into account overseas research stations and territories.įun fact: The Trans-Siberian Railway, which travels between the Russian cities of Moscow and Vladivostok, passes 10 distinct time zones over the course of its 6 day journey!Īlthough most countries use time zones that differ by exactly one hour, some countries actually use half hour or quarter hour time zones. The country with the most total time zones is France with 12, which takes into consideration their many overseas territories. Out of the 195 countries in the world, 23 have at least two distinct time zones. So now that we understand more about the history of time zones, let's take a brief look at how they're used (or not used) in modern times. states began adopting the use of time zones shortly after this conference, it did not become mandatory until congress passed the Standard Time Act of 1918. It was decided that Greenwich, England would act as the Earth's prime meridian and that the 24 time zones would be based off of this location.Īlthough many U.S.
The following year a conference was held in New York City to determine the location of the prime meridian, which refers to zero degrees longitude. Five years later, in 1883, various railroad companies began implementing this system throughout the United States.
The reason for this is that the earth rotates 15 degrees every hour, or 360 degrees in 24 hours.Īt the time, Fleming's idea was almost universally acclaimed as a practical solution to a complex global problem. His idea was to divide the world into 24 time zones that were each 15 degrees of longitude apart. Sir Sanford Fleming, a Canadian engineer, was the first person to propose the use of worldwide time zones back in 1878. However, with the advent and popularization of railroads as a method of traveling quickly across long distances, this soon began to change. This means that passengers disembarking the train were forced to set their clocks back one hour and then do the same in reverse upon returning to Paris.
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even though the journey took two full hours. and arrive to LeMans (120 miles west) at 2 p.m. Upon arriving to a new location, people would either have to locate a town clock or seek out someone who worked in the business of resetting personal clocks.įor example, a train would depart from Paris at 1 p.m. Over time, the tower began to be adorned with mechanical moving figures that would delight visitors.Īlthough these clock towers existed in some cities, the local time was not always obvious. Later, smaller bells were added to mark quarter hours. These clock towers were constructed to display local time and provide sound using large cast iron bells to mark each passing hour. Numerous clock towers were constructed throughout the world, such as the famous Zytglogge Tower (Time Bell) in Bern, Switzerland. In fact, there were over 300 local times throughout the United States during this time.
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This meant that if you traveled from one town to another, you would likely have to update your personal watch upon arrival. Before the late 1800s, it was commonplace for individual towns to specify a local time that citizens would then try to replicate on their personal watches or clocks.
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