[tz] Dealing with Pre-1970 Data

[Andy Lipscomb]

>> It certainly doesn't seem that way to *me*.  For the US, for example, 40 Stat. 450:
>>
>>      http://www.webexhibits.org/daylightsaving/usstat.html
>>
>> and subsequent laws establishing standardized time in the US are pretty clear.  That statute says, for example:
>>
>>      The standard time of the first zone shall be based on the mean astronomical time of the seventy-fifth degree of longitude west from Greenwich
>>
>> and 75 degrees of longitude west of Greenwich, at 1 hour for every 15 degrees, is 75/15 = 5 hours.
>
>That meridian, BTW, does *not* pass through New York City:
>
>       https://maps.google.com/maps?ll=44.983333,-75&q=loc:44.983333,-75&hl=en&t=m&z=5
>
>(New York *state*, yes, but not New York *City*).

It seems to me we could resolve the LMT v. Standard mess by always picking a city that lies on or near the standard meridian. For example, the New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles zones could become Philadelphia, Memphis, and SouthLakeTahoe (Denver itself happens to be on the meridian); CET might for instance be Catania.

(And yes, I'm kidding here!)