Time for everyone -- Royal Observatory, Greenwich, London, UK
N 51° 28.679 W 000° 00.122
30U E 708176 N 5707243
One of five historical markers around the Prime Meridian in the garden of the Royal Observatory at Greenwich
Waymark Code: WMT429
Location: London, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 09/21/2016
Views: 4
Five interpretive signs discussing the history and significance of invisible lines on the Earth are arranged neatly perpendicular to the Prime Meridian. This sign, the fourth of five, explains how the Royal Observatory shared accurate time with mariners, visitors, and others beginning in the 1830s.
The sign reads as follows:
"TIME FOR EVERYONE
The Royal Observatory is famous for supplying Greenwich Mean Time. From 1833, astronomers made a daily signal to mariners in the Thames at 1 PM (1300 hrs) by raising and dropping the time ball on Flamsteed House.
In 1852 electrical technology enabled them to send the time to the nation by telegraph. Visitors to Greenwich Park could also get time, without disturbing the astronomers, the Shepherd Gate clock outside of the observatory.
The Shepherd gate clock as a slave dial that originally received electrical impulses from the master clock within Flamsteed House.
As the time ball drops, air is compressed in the cylinder below to cushion its descent to the base of the mast."
Type of Historic Marker: Interpretive sign
Historical Marker Issuing Authority: Royal Museums Greenwich
Age/Event Date: 01/01/1833
Related Website: [Web Link]
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