U.S. Census Bureau Daily Feature for November 26

WASHINGTON, Nov. 26, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110428/DC91889LOGO)

GETTING IN THE ZONE

Profile America — Tuesday, November 26^th.  On this date in 1883, the ancestor of today's familiar U.S. time zones first appeared at the initiative of the American Railway Association. A schoolteacher named Charles Dowd is credited with first proposing the notion of time zones as early as 1863 in order to rationalize railroad timetables, there being 80 time standards then in use by localities. There was wide but incomplete acceptance of the railway association's zones, and the adjusted zones were not made law until 1918. In 1884, delegates from 25 nations met in Washington, D.C. and established a standard system of 24 time zones around the world. The prime meridian was set at Greenwich, England, and the international dateline in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Making timepieces is just under a billion dollars a year business in the U.S., employing 2,600 people. You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau online at www.census.gov.

Sources: http://www.sciencephoto.com/media/224500/view
http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5748
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Meridian_Conference
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/railroads-create-the-first-time-zones
http://thedataweb.rm.census.gov/TheDataWeb_HotReport2/econsnapshot/snapshot.hrml?NAICS=334518

Profile America is produced by the Center for New Media and Promotions of the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments, ready to air, on the Internet at http://www.census.gov (look for "Multimedia Gallery" by the "Newsroom" button). 

CONTACT: Rick Reed of the U.S. Census Bureau, +1-301-763-2812, fax: +1-301-763-3762, richard.thomas.reed-at-census.gov

SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau