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Harvard College Observatory

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Found in 2 Collections and/or Records:

Records of the Harvard College Observatory Time Service

Sub-Fonds Identifier: UAV 630.377
Overview: In 1872, under Director Joseph Winlock, the Harvard College Observatory established the world’s first public time service, which it provided as a commercial service until 1892. The Observatory sold its time service to railroads and businesses by sending hourly signals over Boston’s fire alarm system and distributing time across the region via Western Union telegraph lines; this work eventually resulted in the establishment of the country's first time zone. The Records of the Harvard College...

Time Service, 1887/1888 Digital

Item — Box 75Identifier: KG11365-6, phaedra1801
Scope and Contents: This series contains astronomical observations, data calculations, and administrative notes from the beginning of Edward Pickering’s tenure as Director of the Harvard College Observatory with the bulk of the materials dating from 1870 to 1905. The notebooks in this series feature early efforts in variable star analysis and meridian circle work, including HCO efforts to contribute zone measurements to contemporary revisions of the Bonn Durchmusterung. Additional records in this series...

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  • Subject: Time -- Systems and standards -- United States. X