<P> The first adoption of a standard time was on December 1 , 1847 , in Great Britain by railway companies using GMT kept by portable chronometers . The first of these companies to adopt standard time was the Great Western Railway ( GWR ) in November 1840 . This quickly became known as Railway Time . About August 23 , 1852 , time signals were first transmitted by telegraph from the Royal Observatory , Greenwich . Even though 98 % of Great Britain 's public clocks were using GMT by 1855 , it was not made Britain 's legal time until August 2 , 1880 . Some British clocks from this period have two minute hands -- one for the local time , one for GMT . </P>
<P> The first adoption of a standard time was on December 1 , 1847 , in Great Britain by railway companies using GMT kept by portable chronometers . The first of these companies to adopt standard time was the Great Western Railway ( GWR ) in November 1840 . This quickly became known as Railway Time . About August 23 , 1852 , time signals were first transmitted by telegraph from the Royal Observatory , Greenwich . Even though 98 % of Great Britain 's public clocks were using GMT by 1855 , it was not made Britain 's legal time until August 2 , 1880 . Some British clocks from this period have two minute hands -- one for the local time , one for GMT . </P>
when did the first country adopted time zones
when did the first country adopted time zones
Great Britain
Great Britain