Coordinates: 51°28′40.12″N 0°00′05.31″W / 51.4778111°N 0.001475°W / 51.4778111; -0.001475
This article is about a historical prime meridian. For the general concept and information on modern prime meridians, see prime meridian.The prime meridian, based at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, was established by Sir George Airy in 1851. By 1884, over two-thirds of all ships and tonnage used it as the reference meridian on their maps. In October of that year, at the behest of U.S. President Chester A. Arthur, 41 delegates from 25 nations met in Washington, D.C., USA, for the International Meridian Conference. This conference selected the meridian passing through Greenwich as the official prime meridian due to its popularity. However, France abstained from the vote and French maps continued to use the Paris meridian for several decades.
The prime meridian passes through the Airy transit circle (51°28′40.1247″N 0°0′5.3101″W / 51.477812417°N 0.001475028°W / 51.477812417; -0.001475028 (Airy Transit)) of the Greenwich observatory. It was long marked by a brass strip in the courtyard, now upgraded to stainless steel, and, since 16 December 1999, has been marked by a powerful green laser shining north across the London night sky.
Famous quotes containing the words prime and/or meridian:
“And this must be the prime of life . . . I blink,
As if at pain; for it is pain, to think
This pantomime
Of compensating act and counter-act,
Defeat and counterfeit, makes up, in fact,
My ablest time.”
—Philip Larkin (1922–1986)
“to these
Hale dead and deathless do the women of the hill
Love for ever meridian through the courters’ trees
And the daughters of darkness flame like Fawkes fires still.”
—Dylan Thomas (1914–1953)