| description: | Birth Of Standard Time. Sandford Fleming Proposed A Simplified Time Reckoning System. Sandford Fleming , A Scottish Canadian Engineer, Vexed By A Timetable Mix-Up In Ireland, Devised A Simplified Time Reckoning System. On February 8th, 1879, He Addressed The Candian Institute In Toronto On " The Selection Of A Prime Meridian". His Proposal To Divide The Globe Into 24 Equal Time Zones Was Widely Circulated. In Washington, 22 Of 25 Nations Agreed To Implement It, Beginning On January 1st, 1885. Fleming Had Designed Canada'S First Postage Stamp, The 1851 Three Penny Beaver. He Also Was Famous For His Railway Survey Of The Yellowhead Pass In The Rockies, And He Proposed The Pacific Cable Which In 1902 Linked Canada To Australia. He Received A Knighthood In 1897. Image From A Painting By Rex Woods |