10th May 1869: The ‘Golden Spike’ completes the first transcontinental railroad in the United States at Promontory Summit, Utah Territory

The ‘Golden Spike’ symbolised the joining of the Central Pacific Railroad, which had built eastward from California, and the Union Pacific Railroad, which had built westward from Nebraska to form a continuous rail link between the east and west coasts of the country.

18th November 1883: The Day of Two Noons sees four standard time zones applied across the continental United States

Railroad companies found it difficult to coordinate train schedules and prevent accidents as trains crossed different regions with varied local times, so adopted a solution to divide the country into four distinct time zones: Eastern, Central, Mountain, and Pacific.