re: #124 Jay C

And accuracy was even more crucial before 1883, when the US (finally) went on a Standard Time system. It’s hard to fathom a system where every town or city set it own “time” by a rough approximation of “high noon”: seasonally adjusted. OK if you don’t have any means of communication faster than a walking pace (or Pony Express for really quick comms): but even 19th-Century railroad speeds (40 mph for the “expresses”) pushed the time system too much for efficiency.

this was a fascinating read:

at amazon