4 ms·

I disagree, the British created time. GMT it is.

by ionwake 5y ago

neom 5y ago
Canada created time zones so let's go with... err, GMT it is then.
- evilduck 5y ago
  And Canada has the one time zone that’s shifted by only a half hour, invalidating their positive contributions to time management entirely. :)
samizdis 5y ago
UTC is the successor of GMT, there's no difference other than the name.
- entropic88 5y ago
  And it was approved by the TVA, so...there's that.
- dcminter 5y ago
  I think someone claiming the British created time might not be 100% serious.
  - ColinWright 5y ago
    It's an interesting question. Clearly the British didn't "invent time", but when the railways became widespread in the UK they needed to have "Railway Time"[0]. Before that each village had their own local time, and it was a mess when trains would arrive or depart minutes earlier or later than expected. So "Railway Time" was invented in 1840 ... unified across the country, and it created a Time Zone. Was Britain the first place this happened? I suspect it was. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railway_time https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railway_time
    - dcminter 5y ago
      In the context of GMT the importance of time to establishing longitude and the Longitude act[0] seem much more relevant to me. I still think it's a bit of a stretch from that to "created time" though! Whoever came up with the sundial first would have the claim to having invented time - and the sun's not out often enough in Blighty for them to be a contender :P [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longitude_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longitude_Act
  - justinclift 5y ago
    Dunno. The British have a Timelord, so they seem to take it pretty seriously. ;)
- timthorn 5y ago
  That's not technically correct. The difference is tiny and for most purposes can be ignored, but GMT is based on the mean solar time at Greenwich whereas UTC is based on International Atomic Time.
- samsonradu 5y ago
  Doesn’t GMT follow daylight-saving time while UTC does not? https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboututc.shtml https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboututc.shtml
  - iso1210 5y ago
    No. Local time in Greenwich is currently 1657, that's 1657 BST (which has daylight saving). It's 1551 GMT. Solar noon today as 1205 GMT. Just like in New York where it's 1157 Local, or 1157 EDT (Eastern Daylight Time) - 1057 EST (Eastern Standard Time)

I disagree, the British created time. GMT it is.

neom 5y ago

Canada created time zones so let's go with... err, GMT it is then.

evilduck 5y ago
And Canada has the one time zone that’s shifted by only a half hour, invalidating their positive contributions to time management entirely. :)

samizdis 5y ago

UTC is the successor of GMT, there's no difference other than the name.

entropic88 5y ago
And it was approved by the TVA, so...there's that.
dcminter 5y ago
I think someone claiming the British created time might not be 100% serious.
- ColinWright 5y ago
  It's an interesting question. Clearly the British didn't "invent time", but when the railways became widespread in the UK they needed to have "Railway Time"[0]. Before that each village had their own local time, and it was a mess when trains would arrive or depart minutes earlier or later than expected. So "Railway Time" was invented in 1840 ... unified across the country, and it created a Time Zone. Was Britain the first place this happened? I suspect it was. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railway_time https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railway_time
  - dcminter 5y ago
    In the context of GMT the importance of time to establishing longitude and the Longitude act[0] seem much more relevant to me. I still think it's a bit of a stretch from that to "created time" though! Whoever came up with the sundial first would have the claim to having invented time - and the sun's not out often enough in Blighty for them to be a contender :P [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longitude_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longitude_Act
- justinclift 5y ago
  Dunno. The British have a Timelord, so they seem to take it pretty seriously. ;)
timthorn 5y ago
That's not technically correct. The difference is tiny and for most purposes can be ignored, but GMT is based on the mean solar time at Greenwich whereas UTC is based on International Atomic Time.
samsonradu 5y ago
Doesn’t GMT follow daylight-saving time while UTC does not? https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboututc.shtml https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboututc.shtml
- iso1210 5y ago
  No. Local time in Greenwich is currently 1657, that's 1657 BST (which has daylight saving). It's 1551 GMT. Solar noon today as 1205 GMT. Just like in New York where it's 1157 Local, or 1157 EDT (Eastern Daylight Time) - 1057 EST (Eastern Standard Time)