FAQs about Time Zones

Ever wonder why we have time zones? In this article, I will be explaining what time zones are, why they were created, and a few other questions you might be interested in.

Q: What are time zones?

A: Time zones are large areas that share the same time, and that time will change depending on which area you’re in.

Q: Why do we have time zones?

A: Because the sun is in different places in the sky depending on where you are, and it would be very weird to say that it’s 4:00 p.m. when in actuality it’s midnight.

Q: Who invented TZ?

A: The British government started the time zones to manage their boats and trains.

Q: When did time zones become official?

A: In the late 1800’s.

Q: Where are TZs anchored?

A: The Greenwich (gren - wich ) Observatory in Great Britain. This is Greenwich Mean Time, or GMT.

Q: How were they created?

A: The government and towns tried different things until one solution, the time zones, worked.

Fun Facts:

1) Did you know that America was once divided into 100 time zones?

2) Putin got rid of several Russian time zones to align them with Moscow’s time (Moscow is Russia's capital).

3) At one point, there was both train time, which was the time the government wanted it to be, and town time, which was the town’s own, unique time.

References:

https://www.bts.gov/geospatial/time-zones

How did trains standardize time in the United States? - William Heuisler

The history of keeping time - Karen Mensing

https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/which-country-first-adopted-time-zones.html

https://www.thrillist.com/travel/nation/world-time-zones-insane-facts-you-didn-t-know-about-time-zones