30 # go ahead and edit the file (and please send any changes to
  31 # tz@iana.org for general use in the future).  For more, please see
  32 # the file CONTRIBUTING in the tz distribution.
  33 
  34 # From Paul Eggert (1999-03-22):
  35 # A reliable and entertaining source about time zones is
  36 # Derek Howse, Greenwich time and longitude, Philip Wilson Publishers (1997).
  37 
  38 ###############################################################################
  39 
  40 # United States
  41 
  42 # From Paul Eggert (1999-03-31):
  43 # Howse writes (pp 121-125) that time zones were invented by
  44 # Professor Charles Ferdinand Dowd (1825-1904),
  45 # Principal of Temple Grove Ladies' Seminary (Saratoga Springs, NY).
  46 # His pamphlet "A System of National Time for Railroads" (1870)
  47 # was the result of his proposals at the Convention of Railroad Trunk Lines
  48 # in New York City (1869-10).  His 1870 proposal was based on Washington, DC,
  49 # but in 1872-05 he moved the proposed origin to Greenwich.
  50 # His proposal was adopted by the railroads on 1883-11-18 at 12:00,
  51 # and the most of the country soon followed suit.
























  52 
  53 # From Paul Eggert (2005-04-16):
  54 # That 1883 transition occurred at 12:00 new time, not at 12:00 old time.
  55 # See p 46 of David Prerau, Seize the daylight, Thunder's Mouth Press (2005).
  56 
  57 # From Paul Eggert (2006-03-22):
  58 # A good source for time zone historical data in the US is
  59 # Thomas G. Shanks, The American Atlas (5th edition),
  60 # San Diego: ACS Publications, Inc. (1991).
  61 # Make sure you have the errata sheet; the book is somewhat useless without it.
  62 # It is the source for most of the pre-1991 US entries below.
  63 
  64 # From Paul Eggert (2001-03-06):
  65 # Daylight Saving Time was first suggested as a joke by Benjamin Franklin
  66 # in his whimsical essay "An Economical Project for Diminishing the Cost
  67 # of Light" published in the Journal de Paris (1784-04-26).
  68 # Not everyone is happy with the results:
  69 #
  70 #       I don't really care how time is reckoned so long as there is some
  71 #       agreement about it, but I object to being told that I am saving

  30 # go ahead and edit the file (and please send any changes to
  31 # tz@iana.org for general use in the future).  For more, please see
  32 # the file CONTRIBUTING in the tz distribution.
  33 
  34 # From Paul Eggert (1999-03-22):
  35 # A reliable and entertaining source about time zones is
  36 # Derek Howse, Greenwich time and longitude, Philip Wilson Publishers (1997).
  37 
  38 ###############################################################################
  39 
  40 # United States
  41 
  42 # From Paul Eggert (1999-03-31):
  43 # Howse writes (pp 121-125) that time zones were invented by
  44 # Professor Charles Ferdinand Dowd (1825-1904),
  45 # Principal of Temple Grove Ladies' Seminary (Saratoga Springs, NY).
  46 # His pamphlet "A System of National Time for Railroads" (1870)
  47 # was the result of his proposals at the Convention of Railroad Trunk Lines
  48 # in New York City (1869-10).  His 1870 proposal was based on Washington, DC,
  49 # but in 1872-05 he moved the proposed origin to Greenwich.
  50 
  51 # From Paul Eggert (2016-09-21):
  52 # Dowd's proposal left many details unresolved, such as where to draw
  53 # lines between time zones.  The key individual who made time zones
  54 # work in the US was William Frederick Allen - railway engineer,
  55 # managing editor of the Travelers' Guide, and secretary of the
  56 # General Time Convention, a railway standardization group.  Allen
  57 # spent months in dialogs with scientific and railway leaders,
  58 # developed a workable plan to institute time zones, and presented it
  59 # to the General Time Convention on 1883-04-11, saying that his plan
  60 # meant "local time would be practically abolished" - a plus for
  61 # railway scheduling.  By the next convention on 1883-10-11 nearly all
  62 # railroads had agreed and it took effect on 1883-11-18 at 12:00.
  63 # That Sunday was called the "day of two noons", as the eastern parts
  64 # of the new zones observed noon twice.  Allen witnessed the
  65 # transition in New York City, writing:
  66 #
  67 #   I heard the bells of St. Paul's strike on the old time.  Four
  68 #   minutes later, obedient to the electrical signal from the Naval
  69 #   Observatory ... the time-ball made its rapid descent, the chimes
  70 #   of old Trinity rang twelve measured strokes, and local time was
  71 #   abandoned, probably forever.
  72 #
  73 # Most of the US soon followed suit.  See:
  74 # Bartky IR. The adoption of standard time. Technol Cult 1989 Jan;30(1):25-56.
  75 # http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3105430
  76 
  77 # From Paul Eggert (2005-04-16):
  78 # That 1883 transition occurred at 12:00 new time, not at 12:00 old time.
  79 # See p 46 of David Prerau, Seize the daylight, Thunder's Mouth Press (2005).
  80 
  81 # From Paul Eggert (2006-03-22):
  82 # A good source for time zone historical data in the US is
  83 # Thomas G. Shanks, The American Atlas (5th edition),
  84 # San Diego: ACS Publications, Inc. (1991).
  85 # Make sure you have the errata sheet; the book is somewhat useless without it.
  86 # It is the source for most of the pre-1991 US entries below.
  87 
  88 # From Paul Eggert (2001-03-06):
  89 # Daylight Saving Time was first suggested as a joke by Benjamin Franklin
  90 # in his whimsical essay "An Economical Project for Diminishing the Cost
  91 # of Light" published in the Journal de Paris (1784-04-26).
  92 # Not everyone is happy with the results:
  93 #
  94 #       I don't really care how time is reckoned so long as there is some
  95 #       agreement about it, but I object to being told that I am saving