Now, I know that it's based on the sun's position etc, I'm not stupid... But I'm looking deeper than that. (As usual) How did it come about? Who thought of it? Who created it that way? How was it put into affect? Who created the "time zones"? Why do we STILL change from winter and summer time zones, when no longer needed?
Not sure if these ARE stupid questions, 😂 but it's just what came to me, yesterday... 🙄😊
I would answer them, but you ask too many, so let's ask chatgpt.
"These are great questions! The development of the modern timekeeping system is a fascinating story that involves many people and events.
The idea of dividing the day into smaller units, such as hours and minutes, can be traced back to ancient civilizations like the Egyptians and Babylonians. However, it was not until the development of accurate clocks in the 18th and 19th centuries that the concept of standard time became practical.
One of the key figures in the development of standard time was Sir Sandford Fleming, a Canadian engineer and inventor. In the 1870s, Fleming proposed the idea of dividing the world into 24 time zones, each one hour apart, with the prime meridian (which runs through Greenwich, England) serving as the reference point. This system, known as Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), is still used today.
The implementation of standard time and time zones varied from country to country. In the United States, for example, the railroads played a major role in the adoption of standard time. Before the railroads, each town kept its own local time based on the position of the sun. This made it difficult to schedule trains, as each town would have a different time. In 1883, the railroads established four standard time zones across the country, which eventually became the system used throughout the United States.
As for the practice of daylight saving time (DST), it was first proposed by Benjamin Franklin in 1784 as a way to save candles. However, it was not until the 20th century that DST became widely adopted. During World War I, many countries implemented DST as a way to conserve energy. The practice was later abandoned in many countries but reintroduced during World War II. Today, DST is still used in many countries, but not all. The decision to use DST is often based on factors such as energy consumption and the potential impact on commerce and transportation.
You've heard the saying "There are no small parts, only small actors"? Well, similarly, there are no stupid questions, only stupid people. Let's break it down:
As you can probably imagine, the nature of the Earth rotating as it orbits the sun means that the idea of having a single time zone is ludicrously impractical; places simply kept local time, and slow travel speed meant it didn't really matter.
What changed that? Trains. Suddenly, there was a need for formalizing things, because you could move so quickly that it would actually MATTER. Didn't anyone see it coming? Yes- the only one I'm aware of doing so was Benjamin Franklin, who suggested the idea of official time zones, but I'd bet that other people also saw the need coming.
As to Daylight Saving Time (or whatever it's called in your area), it was first suggested by... Benjamin Franklin, as a means of increasing available working hours, at a time when candles were expensive.
I can give you a brief explanation using the limited knowledge I have available lol.
I know it was a fight between the British and the French as to how time should be calculated. So it was going to be based on either the Imperial system which is built around the number 12, or the metric system focused around the number 10.
The British came out on top, and so we have the 12 hour clock face and the 24 hour day using the Imperial system. It's also why GMT is the central time zone from which all other time zones derive.
Not quite- it came from the Egyptians, who allotted each day ten hours of light and ten of darkness, with two for each transition; remember that consistency in timekeeping required consistency in day length, and you're not going to get that anywhere as far from the equator as France, let alone England.
Well, different people do whatever they want regarding time.
However, for scientific and other objective purposes having nothing to do with cultures, religions, or astronomical phenomena, the "World's Time" is "Coördinated Universal Time", abbreviated UTC.
oh wow thinking deep over there Jo lol... and no i don't think they're stupid questions. you're demonstrating curiosity which is only one of the most fundamental human traits. :P
anyway ill give you a detailed answer later. but just want to answer this now so i remember for later.
here's a brief answer to your question Who created the "time zones"?
"The Royal Observatory, Greenwich, founded in 1675, established Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), the mean solar time at that location, as an aid to mariners to determine longitude at sea, providing a standard reference time while each location in England kept a different time.
In the 19th century, as transportation and telecommunications improved, it became increasingly inconvenient for each location to observe its own solar time. In November 1840, the Great Western Railway started using GMT (Greenwich mean time) kept by portable chronometers. This practice was soon followed by other railway companies in Great Britain and became known as Railway Time.
Around August 23, 1852, time signals were first transmitted by telegraph from the Royal Observatory. By 1855, 98% of Great Britain's public clocks were using GMT, but it was not made the island's legal time until August 2, 1880. Some British clocks from this period have two minute hands, one for the local time and one for GMT.
On November 2, 1868, the then British Colony of New Zealand officially adopted a standard time to be observed throughout the colony. It was based on longitude 172°30′ east of Greenwich, that is 11 hours 30 minutes ahead of GMT. This standard was known as New Zealand Mean Time.
Timekeeping on North American railroads in the 19th century was complex. Each railroad used its own standard time, usually based on the local time of its headquarters or most important terminus, and the railroad's train schedules were published using its own time. Some junctions served by several railroads had a clock for each railroad, each showing a different time."
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We evolved on this planet so humans have circadian rhythms that are based on a 24 hour cycle. Our solar system was created and the earth rotates around the sun in a finite period of time. The Earth rotates 365 times during that time period. We have night and day cycles and out bodies have adapted too sleep during the night.
China is interesting as it only has one official time zone, China Standard Time (GMT+8). In reality they should have between 3 to 5 time zones similar to what the US has.
Imagine if the whole world went off of just one. It's officially 8pm and the sun bright in the sky.
We run on solar light as measurement for time which has been honestly the best measurement we have found... though time is mostly a human concept, with physics it gets weird as the passage of time varies at different speeds making it possible for one to travel forward in time while for the person it was only moments. This was put i to visual representation in the animated movie "lightyear"
Time zones were created in 1880-something due to the advent of railroad travel. Before then, every town had its own local time based on solar noon. Travel twenty miles, set your watch ahead two minutes.
Time is weird... Its actually affected by gravity more than anything else. If you were on a planet with much more gravity a few years for you could be like thousands of years on earth. It's very strange.
Having the correct time was important for early navigational aids and the Brits were the first. GMT was used by the Navy to be able to plot the position of navy vessels.
