I would say that was a pretty momentous day in our world’s history. On this date in 1884, Greenwich was established as the international standard zero degrees longitude. And why would this be a big deal? Well, things were changing all over the world. The U.S. had adopted its time zones the previous year, and international trade and travel were becoming more widespread. Maps could be based on all sorts of calculations and determinations for various reasons. As you can imagine, this could definitely add difficulty for people. Imagine being off by as much as 112 degrees when it came to maps! Therefore, President Chester A. Arthur called an International Meridian Conference in Washington D.C. There were delegates from 25 countries. At least 72 percent of the world had already adopted Greenwich for nautical purposes. The vote to select Greenwich as the Prime Meridian did pass overwhelmingly 22 to 1. San Domingo (the Dominican Republic) voted against it, and France and Brazil abstained from voting.
For more information:
http://www.wired.com/thisdayintech/2010/10/1013greenwich-prime-meridian/
http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2008/10/dayintech_1013
http://famousdaily.com/history/greenwich-universal-time-meridian.html
