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Argentina 1314
To mark the 100th
anniversary of the establishment of the Observatorio Naval de
Buenos Aires in 1881, Argentina issued this stamp which presents,
on a Mercator projection, a conventionalized view of the world time
zones. The zones are 15° wide in theory, but in practice there are
many modifications to accommodate political boundaries and commercial
requirements.
A map showing the time zones as they currently exist
can be seen at:
http://www.worldtimezone.com/.
Sir Sandford Fleming, chief
engineer of the Canadian Pacific Railroad proposed a general system of
standard times which was accepted in 1884.The International Date Line
(180° E and W of Greenwich) is the left and right limit of the map on
stamp above.
 The
red line on the map on the stamp above reflects the general shape of the International
Date line, an imaginary line east of which it is one day earlier
than it is west of the line. This is designed to accommodate the
reality that as one travels west the time is one hour earlier every
15°. While the Prime Meridian was established in 1884 by The
International Meridian Conference, the date line has never been
established by a formal treaty or law. Rather it exists as an informal
agreement among those engaged in international trade.
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