Today’s Google Doodle celebrating the birthday of Scottish Canadian engineer and inventor Sir Sandford Fleming:

Sir sandford Fleming Image

Sandford Fleming was a Scottish Canadian engineer who known for his invention worldwide standard time zones  . Sandford Fleming born on 7th January , 1827 in Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland and emigrated to colonial Canada at the age of 18. He was a prolific designer who was knighted for his accomplishments by Queen Victoria in 1897. Fleming founded the Royal Canadian Institute in 1849, an organisation which grew into a world renowned center dedicated to the advancement of science. He was also known for designing the Canada’s first postage stamp and helping build the Intercontinental Railway. He served as chief engineer of the Canadian Pacific Railway and was one of the founding member of the Royal Society of Canada.

Sandford Fleming passed away in 1915 at age of 88 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada and was buried in the Beechwood Cemetery of Ottawa in his residence. Google doodle is celebrating 190th Anniversary of his birth. Apart from India, the doodle was up in US, Canada and parts of Europe and Africa.

Google doodle Sir Sandford Fleming birthday

Story behind Sandford Fleming invention of worldwide standard time zones:

Sandford Fleming missed a train in 1876 in Ireland because its printed schedule listed p.m. instead of a.m. This was an incident which apparently inspired him to invent a worldwide standard time zones.

After the incident Sandford Fleming proposed a idea of worldwide standard time zones at a meeting of the Royal Canadian Institute, on February 8, 1879 that is a single 24-hour clock for the entire world which  located at the center of the Earth and not linked to any surface meridian. He linked it to the anti-meridian of Greenwich (now 180°). He suggested that standard time zones could be used locally, but they were subordinate to his single world time, which he called Cosmic Time. He continued to promote his system at major international conferences including the International Meridian Conference of 1884. That conference accepted a different version of Universal Time but refused to accept his zones, stating that they were a local issue outside its purview. Nevertheless, by 1929, all major countries in the world had accepted time zones.

What is Google Doodle?

A Google Doodle is a special, temporary alteration of the logo on Google’s homepage that is intended to celebrate holidays, events, achievements and people. The Google Doodle has become a regular event, where Google celebrating many well-known events and holidays.