Younknow how the world is divided up into different latitudes andnlongitudes? This makes sense, because we can use these numbers toncommunicate about, and map, and travel to very precise locations.n
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n Butndid you ever wonder who divvied up the world in this way?
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nWhennpeople explored regions, even back in ancient times, they often drewnmaps of what they saw. Many people used coordinate systems on theirnmaps—numbered or lettered lines running both vertically andnhorizontally, as an aid to finding and talking about features on thenmap. However, mapmakers’ systems were different from one another, andnthat could be confusing!
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nThenwealthiest and most powerful nations in the world used some of thatnwealth and power to explore faraway places, and so thenlatitude/longitude systems they used became widespread. Still, manyndifferent nations counted longitude with a different starting point,na different line of longitude being zero, a different “PrimenMeridian.” For example, geographers in France counted the line ofnlongitude running through Paris as the Prime Meridian, butngeographers in England counted the line of longitude running throughnGreenwich (just outside of London) as the Prime Meridian. n
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| This line marks the spot where East meets West! |
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nAndnwhen you are traveling all over the world, and writing letters tonpeople all over the world, and doing cooperative science experimentsnwith people all over the world, that is really confusing!
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nBynthe way, it was obvious to everyone where the zero-line of latitudenshould be—the equator. The equator is an imaginary line that runsnaround the planet’s “waist,” the mid-point between the two polesnthat serve as the axis of rotation, and it’s a very obvious andn“fair” location for the starting point of latitude. But therenjust isn’t an obvious and objective spot to start longitude. Shouldnit be the line that intersects Tokyo, Japan? Cairo, Egypt? New York,nUnited States?
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nAnynof these lines would work as well as any other line—so how didnpeople choose the Prime Meridian?
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| If you go to Greenwich, England, you can have one foot in the Western Hemisphere and the other in the Eastern Hemisphere. |
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nOnnthis date in 1884, representatives of 25 nations around the world metnin Washington, D.C., to set up a standard latitude/longitude systemn(and also standard time zones). Probably because Great Britain was annimportant colonial power, but also because the United States ofnAmerica already used it, the British system of longitude, with thenPrime Meridian running through Greenwich in Great Britain, wasnfinally chosen. One nation (Haiti) voted against this, and twonnations (Brazil and France) refused to vote on the issue, but 22n“yea” votes carried the day, and the world finally had onenstandard Prime Meridian.
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nFindnout more about longitude at Kids Geo.
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nAlsonon this date:
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Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos)
Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos) n
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nContinental-drift guy / geophysicist Alfred Wegener’s birthday
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