The development and spread of railroads across the United States brought a wave of changes to American life.
铁路网络在美国的发展与扩散，为美国人民的生活带来了巨大的改变。
During the railroad boom, thousands of jobs were created,
在铁路爆发式发展的年代，创造了数以千计的工作岗位、
new towns were born, trade increased, transportation was faster, and the overall landscape of the nation transformed.
新的城市、贸易的提升、更迅速的交通，更改变了这个国家的面貌。
But, perhaps the most interesting change of all is the least known: the establishment of standard time.
但是，铁路所带来的最有趣的改变却是鲜为人知的：那就是标准时间的建立。
Today, we know if it is 6:28 a.m. in Los Angeles, it is 9:28 a.m. in New York,
如今，我们知道，如果洛杉矶的时间是早上6点28分，纽约时间便是早上9点28分，
2:28 p.m. in London, 5:28 p.m. in Moscow, and 10:28 p.m in Tokyo.
伦敦是下午2点28分，莫斯科是下午5点28分，而东京则是晚上10点28分。
No matter where you are, the minute and second are the exact same.
不论你身在何处，时间的分、秒都是确定的。
But, before the railroads, there was no need for a national or global clock, and each town kept its own local time.
但是在铁路网络形成之前，却完全没有国家或国际标准时间的用武之地，每座城市都有自己当地的的时间。
So when it was 12 noon in Chicago, it was 12:07 p.m. in Indianapolis, 11:50 a.m. in St. Louis, and 11:27 a.m. in Omaha.
如果在芝加哥是中午12点，在印第安纳波利斯就是中午12点07分，圣路易斯是上午11点50分，奥马哈则是上午11点27分。
This worked just fine when the only modes of travel were horses or steamboats,
在当时只有马车或蒸汽船做为交通工具的年代并无大碍，
but it became incredibly problematic when railroads came along.
但在铁路开始运作时却造成了许多问题。
How can you keep a train schedule when each town has its own time?
要如何在每座城市各有不同时间的同时设立火车时间表呢？
And how do you prevent collisions or accidents on the tracks if train conductors are using different clocks?
此外，当火车长按各自不同的时间计时，那要避免火车在铁路上运行时发生碰撞或意外呢？
It doesn't really make sense to leave a station at 12:14 p.m., travel for 22 minutes, and arrive at 12:31 p.m.
一列火车在中午12点14分离站，行驶了22分钟后，却在中午12点31分抵达下一站，这似乎并不合理。
In order to eliminate that confusion,
为了排除这种困扰
the railroads of the United States and Canada instituted standard time zones on November 18, 1883 at noon.
美国和加拿大于1883年11月18日正午时分制订了标准时区。

It allowed the railroad companies to operate more effectively and reduce deadly accidents.
这让铁路公司更有效地运作，也减少了铁路上致命事故的发生率。
The American public, however, was not so quick to embrace this new change, as many cities continued to use their own local time.
然而，美国群众却未能够即时接受这一改变，因为各个城市已用惯了各自的时间。
Resistance was so strong that, in some towns, clocks would show both the local time and the railway time.
在某些城市，由于激烈的反抗，时钟会既显示当地时间，有显示铁路时间。
Imagine this conversation: "Pardon me, sir. Do you have the time?"
想象以下这段对：“不好意思，先生。请问您知道现在的时间吗？”
"Why yes, which do you need? It's 12:13 local time and 12:16 railway time."
“这当然，你指的是哪个时间？现在当地时间是12点13分，铁路时间是12点16分。”
Ultimately, the logic of keeping a standard time prevailed,
到了最后，遵守标准时间的逻辑获了胜，
and the United States government made time zones a matter of law with the Standard Time Act of March 19, 1918.
美国政府也将时区列入法律，并于1918年3月19日生效。
Since then, there have been numerous changes to the time zones, but the concept of standard time has remained.
自此之后，时区虽然经过几番修改，但标准时间的概念却保留了下来。
But, the United States was actually not the first to develop standard time.
然而，美国其实并非第一个设定标准时间的国家。
The first company to implement the use of standard time was the Great Western Railway in 1840 in Britain,
第一家使用标准时间的公司是1840年的英国大西铁路公司，
and by 1847, most British railways were using Greenwich Mean Time, or G.M.T.
到了1847年，大多数英国铁路已使用格林威治时间，简称GMT。
The British government made it official on August 2, 1880 with the Statutes, or Definition of Time, Act.
英国政府也在1880年8月2日正式生效时间定义法案。
But, while Britain may have been the first to establish standard time,
虽然英国是第一个制定标准时间的国家，
it is Asia and the islands of the South Pacific that enjoyed the first hour of each new day.
但是亚洲和南太平洋的岛屿却是每天迎接第一道阳光的地方。
The International Date Line passes through the Pacific Ocean on the opposite side of the Earth from the Prime Meridian in Greenwich where,
国际日期变更线横跨太平洋，在地球的另一面与格林威治的本初子午线遥遥相对，
thanks to trains, standard time was first used.
因为火车，标准时间才第一次使用。
Trains have evolved over the years and remain a prominent form of transportation and trade throughout the world.
火车经过了许多年的演变，至今仍是链接世界各地的重要交通工具之一。
And, from the New York City subways to the freight trains traveling across the Great Plains,
从纽约的地铁，到穿越北美大平原的货运火车，
to the trolleys in San Francisco, they all know exactly what time it is.
再到旧金山的有轨电车，他们都清楚每一刻的时间。
And, thanks to them, we do too!
感谢它们，我们才能有标准时间！