Written by Lin Donn Illustrated by Phillip Martin

In ancient times, people told time by the sun In ancient times, people told time by the sun. When the sun was overhead, it was the middle of the day. Sundials were invented, but they were more fun than necessary as anyone could look up and estimate the time of day by the position of the sun in the sky.   Of course, every person saw a slightly different time depending upon where they were standing.  

In the Middle Ages, mechanical clocks began to be used In the Middle Ages, mechanical clocks began to be used. Each town usually had one clock, with a great big face so everyone could read it from a distance. The town clock was built in a special clock tower. The time on the town clock was set at noon when the sun was directly overhead. This system was called Local Time, because everyone in town used the same time. It took some of the guesswork out of telling time. Every town had a slightly different time.   

  When the railroads were built, people recognized a need for a more standard time system so that goods and passengers could arrive and depart on published schedules. Time zones were established around the world. These were big areas. In the continental United States, we have four time zones - Eastern, Central, Mountain, and Pacific. This system is called Standard Time. 

  In the beginning, in the United States, the use of Standard Time was not a law. It was voluntary. Some towns, even some pretty big towns like Detroit, refused to use standard time. They preferred their town clock.

it's still voluntary, which can be somewhat confusing for travelers. In 1918, the US Government made the system of standard time in time zones a law. But it's not the law all over the world. In some places, it's still voluntary, which can be somewhat confusing for travelers.   

To learn more about time, see these sites: A Walk Through Time Daylight Savings Time Free Powerpoints about Time Time Games Free Time Clipart  

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