> Bob wrote: > In Flagstaff they lower a pinecone from an old hotel balcony. In > Prescott, the lower a cowboy boot from a flagpole on a bar’s > roof. A flip-flop at the redneck Riviera seems reasonable.
All of which are distortions of a time ball, a time reference for ship navigators. In the days of chronometer as the means of figuring longitude - but before the days of radio, the major shipping ports would have a structure with a tower and a ball that could drop. This was to allow the ships within sight to synchronize their chronometers to reference time before departing. The ball would be raise 5 min before the time mark, and on the time mark it would be dropped. Not lowered slowly - but the usually 10 m/s^2 of gravity. The beginning of the ball moving was the reference point in time. 12:00 and 13:00 were both common time marks, mostly depending on the country. As radios became prevalent, the need for time balls passed. There! I suspect most of you have now learned something new this year. _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
