Sir Sandford Fleming

Sir Sandford Fleming (January 7, 1827 РJuly 22, 1915) was a prolific Canadian engineer and inventor, known for the introduction of Universal Standard Time, Canada's first postage stamp, a huge body of surveying and map making, engineering much of the Intercolonial Railway and the Canadian Pacific Railway, and a founding member of the Royal Society of Canada and founder of the Royal Canadian Institute, a science organization in Toronto. Sir Sandford Fleming (1827-1915) by John Wycliffe Lowes Forster, 1892 in brushpoint and red oil Chief Engineer of the Canadian Pacific Railway, he is the father of the Standard Time system. ... Sir Sandford Fleming (1827-1915) by John Wycliffe Lowes Forster, 1892 in brushpoint and red oil Chief Engineer of the Canadian Pacific Railway, he is the father of the Standard Time system. ... January 7 is the seventh day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Naval Battle of Navarino by Carneray 1827 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... July 22 is the 203rd day (204th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 162 days remaining. ... 1915 (MCMXV) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Look up engineer in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... An inventor is a person who creates new inventions, typically technical devices such as mechanical, electrical or software devices or methods. ... Universal Time (UT) is a timescale based on the rotation of the Earth. ... A selection of Hong Kong postage stamps A postage stamp is evidence of pre-paying a fee for postal services. ... Surveyor at work with a leveling instrument. ... Cartography or mapmaking (in Greek chartis = map and graphein = write) is the study, practice, science and art of making maps or globes. ... Intercolonial Railway of Canada logo or herald The Intercolonial Railway of Canada (IRC), also referred to as the Intercolonial Railway, was a historic Canadian railway. ... An eastbound CPR freight at Stoney Creek Bridge in Rogers Pass. ... The Royal Society of Canada, (French: La Soci̩t̩ royale du Canada) The Canadian Academy of the Sciences and Humanities, is the senior national body of distinguished Canadian scientists and scholars. ... The Royal Canadian Institute, or RCI, is an oganization dedicated to the advancement of science. ...

Early life

Fleming was born in Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland, and in 1845, at the age of 17, he emigrated with his older brother David to Ontario (then the colony of Upper Canada). Their route took them through much of the Canadian colonies, Quebec City, Montreal, Kingston, Ontario, finally settling in Peterborough, Ontario with their cousins. Kirkcaldy is a town in Fife, Scotland. ... Motto: (Latin for No one provokes me with impunity)1 Anthem: Multiple unofficial anthems Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow Official language(s) English, Gaelic, Scots 2 Government Constitutional monarchy  - Queen Queen Elizabeth II  - Prime Minister of the UK Tony Blair MP  - First Minister Jack McConnell MSP Unification    - by Kenneth I... Motto: Ut Incepit Fidelis Sic Permanet (Latin: Loyal she began, loyal she remains) Official languages None Flower White Trillium Tree Eastern White Pine Bird Common Loon Capital Toronto Largest city Toronto Lieutenant-Governor James K. Bartleman Premier Dalton McGuinty (Liberal) Parliamentary representation  - House seats  - Senate seats 106 24 Area Total... Map of Upper Canada (orange) Upper Canada was a British territory in what is now the Canadian province of Ontario. ... Motto : « Don de Dieu feray valoir Â» (I shall put Gods gift to good use) Site in the province of Quebec Official logo Country  Canada Province Québec Agglomeration Quebec City Statute of the city Capitale-Nationale Administrative Region Capitale-Nationale Constitution date 1833 Geographical code 24 23027 Founder Foundation... Motto: Concordia Salus Coordinates: Country Canada Province Quebec Founded 1642 Established 1832 City Mayor Gérald Tremblay Area    - City 366. ... Murney Tower, Kingston. ... Nickname: The Electric City Map of Ontario with Peterborough indicated with a red dot Coordinates: Country Canada Province Ontario County Peterborough County Established 1819 - Scotts Plains Incorporated as town 1850 - Peterborough Incorporated as city July 1, 1905 Mayor Sylvia Sutherland MP Dean Del Mastro (CPC) MPP Jeff Leal (OLP...

His inventive mind was at work almost immediately, and in 1847 he started testing what appears to be the first in-line roller skate. In 1849 he established the Royal Canadian Institute, which was formally incorporated on November 4, 1851. In 1851 he designed the Threepenny Beaver, the first Canadian postage stamp. Throughout this time he was fully employed as a surveyor, mostly for the Grand Trunk Railway. His work for them eventually gained him the position as Chief Engineer of the Northern Railway of Canada in 1855, where he tirelessly advocated the construction of iron bridges instead of wood for safety reasons. The roller skate is a type of skate with wheels to be used on solid ground (as opposed to the ice skate which is to be used on ice. ... The Royal Canadian Institute, or RCI, is an oganization dedicated to the advancement of science. ... November 4 is the 308th day of the year (309th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 57 days remaining. ... 1851 (MDCCCLI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... 1885 map The Grand Trunk Railway (GTR) was a historic railway system which operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario, as well as the American states of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. ... The Northern Railway of Canada was a historical Canadian railway located in the province of Ontario. ... General Name, Symbol, Number iron, Fe, 26 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 8, 4, d Appearance lustrous metallic with a grayish tinge Atomic mass 55. ... A log bridge in the French Alps near Vallorcine. ...

Railway surveyor

In 1858 he first proposed a coast to coast railway line spanning all of British North America. The timing was not quite right, but a few years later he was appointed as the sole engineer to supervise the survey of the proposed Intercolonial Railway, linking the Maritime provinces with Quebec. He moved for a time to Halifax, Nova Scotia during construction, where he built a house on the seaward end of town. In 1872 the newly formed Canadian government decided to build the rail link to the Pacific Ocean, and naturally the job of surveying the route fell to Fleming. That same year he organized an expedition to the Pacific that included surveyors as well as the naturalist John Macoun, and his Church of Scotland clergyman from the St. Matthew's Presbyterian "kirk" from Halifax, Nova Scotia ,George Monro Grant. Over the next few years he supervised both the Intercolonial and the Canadian Pacific Railway, a job he completed in 1876 before turning over the chief engineer position to his long term collaborator, Collingwood Schreiber. Fleming was present when Donald Smith drove in the "last spike" in Craigellachie, British Columbia in 1885, now as a board member of the Canadian Pacific company. He published The Intercolonial: A Historical Sketch (1876). British North America was an informal term first used in 1783, but uncommon before the Report on the Affairs of British North America (1839), called the Durham Report. ... The Maritimes or Maritime provinces are a region of Canada on the Atlantic coast, consisting of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. ... Motto: Je me souviens (French: I remember) Official languages French Flower Blue Flag Iris (Iris versicolor Linné) Tree Yellow Birch Bird Snowy Owl Capital Quebec City Largest city Montreal Lieutenant-Governor Lise Thibault Premier Jean Charest (PLQ) Parliamentary representation  - House seat  - Senate seats 75 24 Area Total  - Land  - Water  (% of... Halifax skyline at night Halifax neighbourhoods and boundaries of former city in relation to Halifax Regional Municipality Halifax, founded in 1749, is a community and former city in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. ... Motto: Munit Haec et Altera Vincit (Latin: One defends and the other conquers) Official languages none (English, French, Gaelic) Flower Trailing arbutus Tree Red Spruce Bird Osprey Capital Halifax Largest city Halifax Lieutenant-Governor Mayann E. Francis Premier Rodney MacDonald (PC) Parliamentary representation  - House seats  - Senate seats 11 10 Area... John Macoun John Macoun (17 April 1831 – 18 June 1920) was an Irish-born Canadian naturalist. ... The Church of Scotland (CofS, known informally as The Kirk, Eaglais na h-Alba in Scottish Gaelic) is the national church of Scotland. ... 1479 Barrington Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia. ... Halifax skyline at night Halifax neighbourhoods and boundaries of former city in relation to Halifax Regional Municipality Halifax, founded in 1749, is a community and former city in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. ... Motto: Munit Haec et Altera Vincit (Latin: One defends and the other conquers) Official languages none (English, French, Gaelic) Flower Trailing arbutus Tree Red Spruce Bird Osprey Capital Halifax Largest city Halifax Lieutenant-Governor Mayann E. Francis Premier Rodney MacDonald (PC) Parliamentary representation  - House seats  - Senate seats 11 10 Area... George Monro Grant (December 22, 1835 – May 10, 1902), principal of Queens College, Kingston, Ontario, was born in Albion Mines (Stellarton), Pictou County Nova Scotia in 1835. ... The Intercolonial Railway of Canada (IRC or ICR), also referred to as the Intercolonial Railway, was a historic Canadian railway. ... An eastbound CPR freight at Stoney Creek Bridge in Rogers Pass. ... Sir Collingwood Schreiber (December 14, 1831 – March 23, 1918) was a surveyor, engineer, and civil servant. ... Donald Smith may refer to: Donald Alexander Smith, 1st Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal, a Canadian railway financier and diplomat. ... Craigellachie, BC Craigellachie (IPA: , but or can be substituted for ; is another common pronunciation) is a locality in British Columbia, Canada, located several kilometres to the west of the Eagle Pass summit. ...

Inventor of standard time

After missing a train in 1876 in Ireland because its printed schedule listed p.m. instead of a.m., he proposed a single 24-hour clock for the entire world, located at the centre of the Earth and not linked to any surface meridian. At a meeting of the Royal Canadian Institute on February 8, 1879 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. 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 of the major countries of the world had accepted time zones. February 8 is the 39th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1879 (MDCCCLXXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... This page is about Greenwich in England. ... A time zone is a region of the Earth that has adopted the same standard time, usually referred to as the local time. ... The Prime Meridian, Greenwich The Prime Meridian is the meridian (line of longitude) passing through the Royal Greenwich Observatory, Greenwich, England; it is the meridian at which longitude is 0 degrees. ... Universal Time (UT) is a timescale based on the rotation of the Earth. ...

Later life

In later life, Fleming lived in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The Dingle Tower in Halifax's Sir Sandford Fleming Park, was a gift of Fleming to the people of the city.

In 1880 he retired from the world of surveying, and took the position of Chancellor of Queen's University in Kingston Ontario, a position he held for his last 35 years, where his former Minister George Monro Grant was Principal from 1877 until Grant's death in 1902. Not content to leave well enough alone, he tirelessly advocated the construction of a submarine telegraph cable connecting all of the British Empire, the All Red Line, which was completed in 1902. In his later years he retired to his house in Halifax, Nova Scotia later deeding the house and the 95 acres (38 hectares) to the city, now known as Sir Sandford Fleming Park (Dingle Park). He also kept residence in Ottawa, and was buried there, in the Beechwood Cemetery. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1186x750, 296 KB) View of Northwest Arm, Halifax, Nova Scotia. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1186x750, 296 KB) View of Northwest Arm, Halifax, Nova Scotia. ... Dingle Tower seen over the Northwest Arm Sir Sandford Fleming Park, known locally as the Dingle Park, is a 95 acre (38 ha) urban park located in the Halifax Regional Municipality. ... Queens University, or simply Queens, is a coeducational, nonsectarian university located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, on the edge of Lake Ontario. ... Kingston, Ontario, with a population of approximately 142,819 people, is located at the eastern end of Lake Ontario, where the lake runs into the St. ... A submarine communications cable is a cable laid beneath the sea to carry telecommunications between countries. ... The British Empire in 1897, marked in pink, the traditional colour for Imperial British dominions on maps. ... All Red Line is an informal name for the system of electrical telegraphs that linked all the British Empire. ... Halifax skyline at night Halifax neighbourhoods and boundaries of former city in relation to Halifax Regional Municipality Halifax, founded in 1749, is a community and former city in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. ... Motto: Munit Haec et Altera Vincit (Latin: One defends and the other conquers) Official languages none (English, French, Gaelic) Flower Trailing arbutus Tree Red Spruce Bird Osprey Capital Halifax Largest city Halifax Lieutenant-Governor Mayann E. Francis Premier Rodney MacDonald (PC) Parliamentary representation  - House seats  - Senate seats 11 10 Area... Dingle Tower seen over the Northwest Arm Sir Sandford Fleming Park, known locally as the Dingle Park, is a 95 acre (38 ha) urban park located in the Halifax Regional Municipality. ... Motto: Advance Ottawa/Ottawa en avant Coordinates: Country Canada Province Ontario County Established 1850 as Bytown City Mayor Larry OBrien Governing body Ottawa City Council MPs / MPPs Members of Parliament (MPs) Mauril Bélanger (LPC), Paul Dewar (NDP), John Baird (CPC), Royal Galipeau (CPC), David McGuinty (LPC),Pierre Lemieux... Beechwood Cemetery in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada is a 160 acre (647,000 m²) cemetery designated as a National Historic Site in 2001. ...

His accomplishments were well known world wide, and in 1897 he was knighted by Queen Victoria. Fleming Hall was built in his honour at Queen's in 1901, and rebuilt after a fire in 1932. It was the home of the university's Electrical Engineering faculty. The silver Anglia knight, commissioned as a trophy in 1850, intended to represent the Black Prince. ... Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837, and the first Empress of India from 1 May 1876, until her death on 22 January 1901. ... Queens University, or simply Queens, is a coeducational, nonsectarian university located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, on the edge of Lake Ontario. ...

In Peterborough, Ontario, Fleming College, a Community College of Applied Arts and Technology bearing his name, was opened in the 1970s, with additional campuses in Lindsay/Kawartha Lakes, Haliburton, and Cobourg. Also, a building in the University of Toronto is named after Fleming (Sandford Fleming building). It belongs to the University of Toronto Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering. Nickname: The Electric City Map of Ontario with Peterborough indicated with a red dot Coordinates: Country Canada Province Ontario County Peterborough County Established 1819 - Scotts Plains Incorporated as town 1850 - Peterborough Incorporated as city July 1, 1905 Mayor Sylvia Sutherland MP Dean Del Mastro (CPC) MPP Jeff Leal (OLP... Fleming College (formerly known as Sir Sandford Fleming College) is a College of Applied Arts and Technology in Peterborough, Ontario. ... The province of Ontario, in Canada, has two types of community colleges: Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology and Institutes of Technology and Advanced Learning. ... Lindsay (2001 population 16,930) is a community on the Scugog River in the Kawartha Lakes region of southern Ontario, Canada. ... Haliburton Village is a small town on Head Lake inside Haliburton County in Ontario, Canada. ... Cobourg (2001 population 17,172) is a town some 75 km east of Toronto. ... The University of Toronto (U of T) is a coeducational public research university in Toronto, Ontario. ... The Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering at the University of Toronto (U of T) is one of Canadas largest engineering teaching and research institution. ...

Trivia

Fleming was a Freemason [1]. American Square & Compasses Freemasonry is a worldwide fraternal organization. ...

External links

• Heritage Minutes: Sir Sandford Fleming
• Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
• Biography from Sir Sandford Fleming College website
• Ontario Plaques - The Birthplace of Standard Time