The prime meridian is the longitude (line stretching north to south) that is considered the anchor or central point of a map, labeled 0⁰.įast forward to the 1800s.

In 1721, the Royal Observatory began to use Greenwich as the location for the UK’s prime meridian in map making and navigation systems. That’s when the Royal Observatory in Greenwich (pronounced ) was commissioned by King Charles II for the purpose of studying cartography, geography, meteorology, and related subjects (including time). To understand how we ended up with the time zones we are familiar with today, we need to go all the way back to 1675. But how were these time zones decided upon? Who declared Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)? Within a time zone, everyone has the same time. Time zones were first established in the UK and elsewhere in the mid-1800s, largely in response to new communication methods such as the telegraph, and new steam engines on trains and boats that accelerated travel. S tandard refers to the fact that it is the official time in that area. First of all, what is a time zone?Ī time zone is a geographic area, typically 15⁰ longitude wide, that shares the same standard time. Let’s synchronize our watches and cover some of the key lingo related to time zones. Amazing!īut, even though we don’t need to pay as much attention to time zones these days, that doesn’t mean they don’t still impact our lives. Another benefit of this technology? The clock on our smartphone automatically changes when we enter a new time zone.

We all have clocks in our pockets-our smartphones.

Eastern time zone gmt