GMT and International Date Line

The Prime Meridian has been relocated all over the map at various times. In 1884 25 nations voted on the current resting place. France wanted Paris, I think, but 22 nations voted for the Geenwich observatory in England and that's how it became to be.

Here is a little history. I don't think they gave much thought to 180° point, but maybe they did.

I have a map of Europe either made in France in the days of Napoleon or a reproduction thereof, and it shows the 0 degree Prime Meridian running right through Paris... Don't know if any one else signed up to that, even briefly.

They didn't think too much about it at the time.

But even with that tale you told, you got the part about the 180 correct. It was routed around so people wouldn't have two time zones on a tiny island. Also so islands in the same rough political sphere would have the same time, but that starts to sound imperialistic.

The Brits have always insisted that they're ahead of our time, so that's where they put it.

And They had the best/most charts...

sun never sets yadayadayada.

milo

Yeah, it really pisses me off whe we go to places like Italy and you just can't buy a decent map .
The ordnance survey do a great job in th UK.
(BTW I like a nice big map so I can sit on it when hoomans are trying to read it)

Del

Yes but in reality, we're ahead of them cos they need 12 hours to wake up and catch up!

- and it is nearly Friday already.

I bet Del is the first to respond!

<Why do the 0° line pass through Greenwich?>

Protocol. Check out the articles in Wikipedia on this topic.

Some of us were sacrificed, just to keep Paris in a different hemisphere to the central London.

Because the Royal Observatory was already there near a former royal palace. The transit, an instrument used to determine midday according to the sun's position was built here and defined the meridian for the Admiralty. How this came to be adopted internationally is spelt out in the website already referred to.

Did they ever consider Bath? Of course, Kris hadn't started his thread then, so I would see why not. But Bath Mean Time does sound hygienic.

I'm pretty sure they considered Bath but some probably felt that such a choice might serve to advertise the fact that most of their astronomical staff needed one (I've worked closely with a few myself and so the selection committee has my full sympathies in this regard).

No one asked me, of course, but had I been there I would have suggested simply that they fill the damn thing with a good draught and be done with it.

Insofar as Kris' bath goes, remember that he demolished the thing, possibly in rebellion against the very concept itself. Moreover, Kris is a squirrel, and from where I sit squirrels in baths most definitely do not conjure forth images of hygiene. For all I know he may have even kept his nuts acorns there.

It's a shame that Nempnett Thrubwell, Shellow Bowells, Ugley, Six Mile Bottom and Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyndrobwllllantisiliogogogoch were out of the running. The World would have been a more wonderful place....

"Llan.....goch"

One old Welsh family in Llandovery is very proud of its pedigree that covers five large skins of parchment. In the middle of the third page is a note in the margin: "About this time the world was created."

You'd think someone in their line would have come up with something like the Prime Meridian in all this time, pre-empting us all. Then again, we're talking Welsh.

If only they'd prefaced it with, "I have discovered a marvelous proof that......"

.....and substituted the word 'world' with the word 'small bronze disk'?

Awarding 10 GA's is unfortunately unethical so I awarded just a single measly one.

me 2

It's a good job it wasn't centred on Twatt, really.

Probably one of the (most) influential reason is Brits ruled half the globe once upon a time

Don't give the Chinese any ideas. They might come by night and steal the Prime Meridian.

I believe that as large as China is, they do not have any time zones. Everyone works on Beijing time. I was told this a couple of years ago when I was over there.

Bill

Flilthy Yankee plopaganda...check here

Had Cornwall had a choice for location of the meridian I'm sure it would have been Feock

Dallas was chosen briefly when one of the committee members had stepped out to use the loo. When he came back and was told about it, he exclaimed, "Ah! So the Prime Meridian is located just west of Fort Worth in Dallas?"

"No, Dallas is about 2000 feet south of highway B9010, in Scotland."

I had two birthdays on 2 consecutive days while serving on HMS Puma in 1967 as we sailed from west to east across the international date line as you get twice the same day.......to stop you being a day ahead, just as in "80 days around the world"!!!

So if Puma had turned about and sailed the other direction would you have been the inspiration for "Back to the Future?"

...of course!!!

....but not as good looking though!!

It was actually 1968 I have since recalled!!! Only one year out!!

By the way, Boston is also on the 0° Meridian.

Boston Lincolnshire at least!!!!

....but not as good looking though!!

As good-looking as whom?

Is this the Real Reason for your hiding out in Germany or have you simply had enough of those nosey Yankee tourists poking about your Flux Capacitor?

YUP!!

Have you ever been poked in the flux capacitor, (been "Fluxed"?!) Its quite painful!!

All I can say to you is " Flux off!"....

"All I can say to you is "Flux off!"...."

?

Luxury yacht or 50's greasepit?

Royal Navy......Grey Funnel Line!!

RCN. Our older lovingly referred to as greasepits.

Luxury yachts now. Menus, gymnasium....

Its not quite a Greenwich Meridian post, but I thought you might have a laugh.

When I first moved to Germany, I used to listen to BFBS Radio and one day they had a new female (Blonde?) newsreader.

They always give the Greenwich mean time (GMT) first as well.

She read out " Its 8 o'Clock Greenwich."

"Mean Time here`s the news!"

LOL

please up load number of countries and their through which

equator passess

Why don't you get a map and do it yourself?

What has this got to do with this blog, by the way?