Royal Observatory, Greenwich
Time has been measured in some form for as long as documentation of the earth’s inhabitants has been found.
Time, as it is measured today, has more recent beginnings in the past several centuries. The Royal Observatory, referred to in Britain as the “Royal Observatory, Greenwich,” has been a profound icon of time for many years. The Observatory’s most defining feature is that it is the current global definitive source of time; not only is it the basis of which days and hours are coordinated, but the official time on the clock there is used by millions to synchronize their clocks. This blog will detail the history of this location and the role it played in the development of telling time in a universally organized fashion.
Dating back to 1675, the Greenwich Observatory was founded by Charles II, as reported in a history article published by the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich. It was built with the intention of improving sea navigation by pinpointing exact locations and times. In an international decree, Charles II named it the official point where new days, years and even millenniums were to begin. Such changes would take place at the Observatory, or the point of Prime Meridian origin, at the stroke of midnight using Greenwich’s local time, known today as Greenwich Mean Time or simply as GMT.
John Flamsteed was appointed as the first Astronomer Royal of the Observatory in March of 1675. In 1707, measures were taken to create even more reliable navigation techniques, after a sea voyage disaster killed more than 2,000 men. The disaster was not an isolated incident; there were many tragedies at sea due to miscalculations and lack of ample technology. This prompted a formation of the Board of Longitude seven years later. These experts aspired to find a solution to measuring longitude accurately at sea. The accuracy was so heavily desired that Parliament offered a £20,000 reward, which the National Maritime Museum notes would be £2 million today.
Many other countries and cities were trying to establish their own official point of longitudinal beginning. In a publication from NASA Astrophysics Data System published by Harvard, a 1792 quest for the Prime Meridian line in France is described on page 272. The text talks about how there was confusion between whether the line should be in Ferro, Paris or off the shore in the ocean. About 60 years later, a Yorkshire carpenter named John Harrison claimed the British Parliament-offered prize by solving the issue. His solution was the H4 chronometer timekeeper. All four of the original pieces he designed are now on display in a gallery dedicated to him. His discovery would heavily contribute to a world-wide regulation, but not for nearly another 100 years. Worldwide confusion of longitudes and time coordination demanded a common ground; unfortunately the confusion continued past Harrison’s discovery.
In 1851, the Prime Meridian was named in Greenwich. Many other countries that traveled the seas near Britain adopted their coordinates. The Prime Meridian runs through the Observatory. This line is the basis of longitude, measured at Longitude 0° 0′ 0”. Whether east or west of the line, every place on earth is measured from this starting point. It wasn’t until 1884 that it was declared the international standard. The Astronomy department of the University of Nebraska in Lincoln published an article stating why Greenwich was chosen as this point – partially because John Harrison of Britain discovered it and partially because over two-thirds of freighters were using Greenwich as their longitudinal reference point already. This decision was made in the 1884 International Meridian Conference by votes from representatives from 25 different nations. The conference, held in Washington D.C., was organized by President Arthur of the United States.
The Prime Meridian is connected to the second defining feature for which the Observatory is famous for – Greenwich Mean Time, or GMT. This time-telling method works with the Prime Meridian as the base for calculation. Before the Prime Meridian was chosen to be in Greenwich, most cities kept their own time. Now, with a universal longitudinal standard, the need for a universal coordinated time arose, especially with railroads and communication expanding quickly. It made sense that the time should originate where the universal Prime Meridian did.
Hangin' out on two sides of the Prime Merdian!
The local time was simply the time measured accurately on the clocks at the Greenwich Observatory. Across the rest of the world, on land and sea, the time was calculated using the Prime Meridian for longitude and lunar distances based on Greenwich observations, an idea created by Nevil Maskelyne. As written in a previous blog post on Online Clock, time zones were created to keep daylight hours similar according to zones. Each zone was measured either behind or ahead of GMT by a specific amount of hours.
In 1894, the Observatory experienced a bombing attack, which was the first international terrorist attack in Britain. According to a publication by the National Maritime Museum, two men were working during that February afternoon, when they heard an explosion. They found a man in front of the building who was missing a hand and had been mortally wounded in the stomach, but he said nothing. Within minutes, the mysterious man died. Later, the police found out that he was a 26-year-old French man, who had somehow managed to miscalculate his throw and the bomb went off in his hand, killing him too. His motives for choosing the Observatory were unknown.
This was the only “exciting” incident the Observatory experienced. Later in 1924, hourly time signals were broadcast from the Royal Observatory. In 1948, the Astronomer Royal moved to Hertmonceux, a nearby castle. The entire Observatory was transferred to that castle in 1957 and became formally known as the “Royal Greenwich Observatory.” The original site was called the “Old Royal Observatory.”
Later in 1990, the Royal Greenwich Observatory moved to Cambridge, then closed eight years later. After the closing, the Old Royal Observatory became the official site again, named as “Royal Observatory, Greenwich,” to distinguish the change. It then became part of the National Maritime Museum. The Observatory was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. In 2007, the museum conducted a £15 million redevelopment, including the construction of a new state-of-the-art planetarium, as well as new time galleries, new astronomy galleries and an education center.
Red Time Ball, Royal Observatory, Greenwich
The Observatory has always used the most prestigious time-telling technology for ultimate accuracy since the world depends on it. Today, the experts there use extra-galactic radio sources for the most precise time calculations. Anyone who can see the tower is able to set their clock or watch with a convenient red time ball atop the tower. The ball was installed in 1833 and still remains today. At 1:00 p.m., the ball drops, setting World Time. Since the astronomers were always busy with telescopes in the midday sun, the ball dropping at 1:00 instead of any other time was decided. During the summer, tourists will note that it drops at 1:00 BST or 12:00 GMT.
Visitors are welcome to see the grounds and the original site, thanks to the Maritime Museum. It is also possible to stand straddling the Prime Meridian, being present in two hemispheres at one time. This line is marked by two long metal strips with a semi-transparent light line between them, which is illuminated at night. At the end of the strip on the wall is a clock that shows the exact zero-coordinate, as well as the current exact GMT measurement. As seen in this YouTube video, visitors are demonstrating standing in two hemispheres at one time on the Prime Meridian line:
The National Maritime Museum notes that the Royal Observatory is “one of the most important historic scientific sites in the world.” The museum features a wealth of information about the Observatory, including little-known facts and stories recorded in history.
When planning a trip to Britain, be sure to add The Royal Observatory, Greenwich to the itinerary if possible!
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