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Credit: United States Naval Observatory
Explanation:
In the nineteenth century, dropping a time ball
from a prominent location was a practical way of
communicating
the time to the surrounding country side and
ships at sea.
Initiating a fledgling
time service for the United States, the U.S.
Naval Observatory dropped a time ball at precisely noon every
day begining in 1845.
At the end of the twentieth century, in commemoration of this
traditional method of disseminating time, the U.S. Naval Observatory
has installed
this ceremonial time ball atop its main building in
Washington D.C.
Dropping this time ball - at midnight Eastern
Standard Time on New Year's Eve - will be the local culmination
of a "round-the-world time ball drop" marking
the beginning of the year 2000
and the beginning of the
Third Millennium
in 2001.
Meanwhile, don't forget ... this year, in most of the U.S.
Daylight Time ends at 2:00 am on Sunday,
October 31.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: time - millennium - U.S. Naval Observatory
Publications with words: time - millennium - U.S. Naval Observatory
See also: