Clocks Change Tomorrow [1918] [pdf]
nytimes.com
Clocks Change Tomorrow [1918] [pdf]
1–10 of 33 posts
Re: Clocks Change Tomorrow [1918] [pdf]
#2The Director General McAdoo mentioned in the OP was the head of a US governmental agency that had taken control and ownership of the US railroad network. According to the Wikipedia article [1] "it was possibly the largest American experiment with nationalization," and it was reversed after WW I.
1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Railroad_Adminis...
Re: Clocks Change Tomorrow [1918] [pdf]
#3There's a long history of railroad involvement in time changes, e.g., the "Day of two Noons". Adjustments for railroads are why we have time zones, and why Date.toLocaleString has weird minute and second offsets for pre-1800 dates:
Re: Clocks Change Tomorrow [1918] [pdf]
#4Benjamin Franklin's Essay on Daylight Saving Time:
Every morning, as soon as the sun rises, let all the bells in every church be set ringing; and if that is not sufficient?, let cannon be fired in every street, to wake the sluggards effectually, and make them open their eyes to see their true interest.
Re: Clocks Change Tomorrow [1918] [pdf]
#5There's a long history of railroad involvement in time changes, e.g., the "Day of two Noons". Adjustments for railroads are why we have time zones, and why Date.toLocaleString has weird minute and second offsets for pre-1800 dates: http://curtisautery.appspot.com/5779342353235968
The alternative would be for everyone to use something like UTC, which means that while their relationship to the sun changes depending on location, the actual value is the same everywhere. I find this especially useful when scheduling online meetings with participants from many countries.
Re: Clocks Change Tomorrow [1918] [pdf]
#6So basically time stood still for an hour instead of, as nowadays, repeating the third hour of the day. I wonder if this was really the case or if it was just an "easier" way to explain it to the average Joe.
Re: Clocks Change Tomorrow [1918] [pdf]
#7What blows my mind is the collective amount of "news" articles we get twice a year, every year for DST
The American public (and world public for that matter) is obviously 100% apathetic.
If you really want this to change then you have to goad politicians and tell them how the USA is stuck in the 20th century and going backwards. But good luck with them caring about that either.
Re: Clocks Change Tomorrow [1918] [pdf]
#8There's a long history of railroad involvement in time changes, e.g., the "Day of two Noons". Adjustments for railroads are why we have time zones, and why Date.toLocaleString has weird minute and second offsets for pre-1800 dates: http://curtisautery.appspot.com/5779342353235968
The alternative would be for everyone to use something like UTC, which means that while their relationship to the sun changes depending on location, the actual value is the same everywhere. I find this especially useful when scheduling online meetings with participants from many countries.
Yes, that's a cool way to do it and somewhat natural if you're a server person; but perhaps mentally challenging for a lot of people.
Remember Swatch Internet Time[1]?
Re: Clocks Change Tomorrow [1918] [pdf]
#9So basically time stood still for an hour instead of, as nowadays, repeating the third hour of the day. I wonder if this was really the case or if it was just an "easier" way to explain it to the average Joe.
An old pendulum clock can be easily set forward, but you must not push the arms counter clockwise. The method I've used requires waiting for the ding-dongs at each hour and half hour when you turn it forwards, so just stopping the clock for 1 hour is certainly easier than setting it forward 23 hours.
Re: Clocks Change Tomorrow [1918] [pdf]
#10What blows my mind is the collective amount of "news" articles we get twice a year, every year for DST The American public (and world public for that matter) is obviously 100% apathetic. If you really want this to change then you have to goad politicians and tell them how the USA is stuck in the 20th century and going backwards. But good luck with them caring about that either.
What is going to change and why should we want that?