Know about the Father of StandardTime

Do you know who invented the worldwide

standard time? Many are not aware of this.

It's Sir Sandford Fleming, a Scottish Canadian

engineer, inventor and a prolific designer who was

knighted for his accomplishments by Queen

Victoria in 1897. Today’s Google Doodle reflects

Fleming’s legacy on the 190th anniversary of his

birth”, according to the search engine giant. He was

born on 7th January 1827 in Kirkcaldy, Scotland to

Andrew and Elizabeth Fleming when regions used

solar time to set their own clocks.

Inspiration of inventing the standard time:-

Fast-forward to Ireland in 1876, when a mistake

printed in a timetable caused Fleming to miss his

train, an incident which apparently inspired his

proposal for the introduction of standardized time.

He presented the idea of a worldwide standard

time at a meeting of the Royal Canadian Institute

(RCI) on February, 8, 1879. Solar time worked well

enough until trains came along and the need for

standardized time arose, with the introduction of

synchronized clocks also aiding weather

forecasting.

Fleming advocated for dividing the world into 24

time zones beginning at the Greenwich Meridian

and spaced at 15 degree intervals. It followed the

introduction of Greenwich Mean Time across Great

Britain in 1847. His proposal gave way to the

International Prime Meridian Conference which

convened in 1884 and was attended by 25 nations.

It was here that Fleming’s system of international

standard time was adopted.

Fleming was behind the adoption of the present

time meridians in both Canada and the U.S. Before

Fleming's time revolution, time of day was a local

matter, and most cities and towns used some form

of local solar time, maintained by some well-known

clock (for example, on a church steeple or in a

jeweler's window). Standard time in time zones

was not established in U.S. law until the Act of

March 19, 1918, sometimes called the Standard Time

Act.

After becoming an apprentice surveyor at the age

of 14, Fleming emigrated, along with his older

brother, to Canada in 1845 when he turned 18. He

founded the RCI in 1849, an organisation which

grew into a world renowned centre dedicated to

the advancement of science.

Other inventions:-

Fleming was also known for helping build the

Intercontinental Railway, serving as chief engineer

of the Canadian Pacific Railway, designing Canada’s

first postage stamp (The three-penny stamp issued

in 1851 had a beaver on it), designing an early in-line

skate in 1850 and surveying for the first railroad

route across Canada.

He died aged 88 at the home of his daughter in

Halifax, Nova Scotia, on July 22, 1915.