U.S. Census Bureau Daily Feature for November 16: Time Zones

WASHINGTON, Nov. 16, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

TIME ZONES

Profile America — Wednesday, November 16th. This month in 1883, the ancestor of today's familiar U.S. time zones first appeared at the initiative of the American Railway Association.  The idea was 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. Making timepieces is about a $723 million a year business for 114 establishments in the U.S., employing some 3,700 people. You can find more facts about America's people, places and economy, from the American Community Survey, at www.census.gov.

Sources:       
Charles Dowd biography/accessed 9/1/2016: http://www.sciencephoto.com/media/224500/view 
Time Zones go into effect/accessed 9/1/2016: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/railroads-create-the-first-time-zones 
Global time zones: http://www.thegreenwichmeridian.org/tgm/articles.php?article=10 
Timepiece making establishments, revenue and employment/NAICS 334518: http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ECN/2012_US/00CBDG2//naics~334518

Profile America is produced by the Center for New Media and Promotion of the U.S. Census Bureau. Statistics and accounts drawn from cited non-Census sources are employed for illustrative or narrative purposes, and are not attested to by 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 "Audio" in the "Library" pull-down menu). 

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SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau

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