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The railroads.

When railroading started, time was based on the position of the sun: when it is directly overhead, it's "noon." Or, on a clock, 12:00. The problem with that is, what is "noon" in Chicago is not noon in Detroit or Milwaukee. This makes it hard to calculate timetables--if it takes an hour to go from Alphaville to Bravoville, you then have to work in a time correction factor. Worse: if a train leaves Alphaville going to Bravoville at noon, and a train leaves Bravoville going to Alphaville at noon, they're going to reach their destinations at different times.

So, they came up with a "standard time" deal. They divided the nation into four sections, because it takes four hours for the sun to pass across the US. Then they decided noon would be when the sun got to the middle of each section. Now, if a train leaves Bravoville for Alphaville at noon and one leaves Alphaville for Bravoville at noon, they'll both reach their destinations at the same time.

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Kyleigh Jacobs

Lvl 10
3y ago

What else can I help you with?