Greenwich Meridian as the prime meridian
Meridiano de Greenwich como origen de longitudes
- Date
- 1851-1884 · confidence high
- Place
- Royal Observatory, Greenwich, London, United Kingdom
- Credited to
- International Meridian Conference (Washington) and George B. Airy
- Field
- Knowledge & symbols
What it is
In 1884 the Washington conference chose the meridian through Airy's transit circle (1851) as the common origin of longitude and of universal time. It unified the world's nautical charts and time zones.
France abstained from the vote and kept the Paris meridian until 1911; most nautical charts already used Greenwich.
What it led to
- time zones and universal time
- nautical charts with one origin of longitude
- Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)