From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Standard time
is putting all
clocks
in a
time zone
to the same time.
Standard time
can also be used to mean the time without
daylight saving time
. Standard time happens from
autumn
to early
spring
. Daylight saving time happens from early spring to autumn.
Standard time was first used by British
railways
on
December 11
,
1847
, when they switched from
local mean time
to
Greenwich Mean Time
(GMT). Almost all of
Great Britain
's public clocks were using GMT by 1855.
Before 1883, local mean time was used in all of North America. This meant there were many different local times. This caused problems for train schedules. Sandford Fleming, a
Canadian
, proposed standard time at a meeting of the Royal Canadian Institute on February 8, 1879. The owners of the major railroads met in
Chicago
to make the Standard Time System. Most states began using the system soon after the railroads. The U.S. government officially began using the system almost fifty years later.
Some people do not like standard time (and daylight saving time). Some people do not like it because they do not trust in government. Others believe that it disturbs
circadian rhythms
. Others simply like traditional, natural markers of time, like sunsets, noon and sunrise.
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