It would seem that the continued existence of the 12 hour clock may have a lot to do with the existence of 12 hour time pieces. Has anyone ever encountered a 24 h analog clock where the top number is zero, a six appears where the three is now, the twelve is at the bottom and eighteen is where the nine is now? I have seen some 24 hour clocks that were really 12 h clocks with a 13 to 24 written by 1 to 12. These look cluttered.
Are most UK clocks in 12 or 24 h format or both? It must be very confusing to have to switch between the two, especially if you are a person who refuses to learn or understand both. It would probably be best if the US adopted the 24 h clock officially as well as the metric system. Especially in airline time tables. I know of one person who missed an air flight when she arrived at the airport 12 hours late. I wonder how often this happens and what is usually done to resolve the problem. I wonder what Americans do when they are in other countries and encounter the 24 h clock in written form and on clocks? The perfect opportunity to have changed to the 24 hour clock was when digital clocks first came out. But that didn't happen. It was interesting to read how the 24 h time is spoken in the UK rail system. For instance not say zero when midnight is meant.. The examples did not state how time is spoken past noon (12:00). I recently saw the movie slumdog millionaire. At the very end of the movie there was a singing and dance scene that took place in the railroad station. The 24 hour digital clock was very visible and it was filmed around midnight. You could see the clock display 23:59:ss and then switch to 00:00:00 and then to about 00:01:ss. Jerry ________________________________ From: Martin Vlietstra <[email protected]> To: U.S. Metric Association <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, February 7, 2009 3:38:07 AM Subject: [USMA:42919] Re: Hot and dry May I refer you to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/24-hour_clock. ________________________________ From:Jeremiah MacGregor [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: 07 February 2009 00:17 To: [email protected]; U.S. Metric Association Subject: Re: [USMA:42818] Re: Hot and dry Martin, Thanks. Would you say the 24 hour clock is used in all other aspects of public life in the UK ? Where would I find it used and not used? Jerry ________________________________ From:Martin Vlietstra <[email protected]> To: U.S. Metric Association <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, February 2, 2009 1:06:57 AM Subject: [USMA:42818] Re: Hot and dry Jerry, If you visit http://www.journeycheck.com/southwesttrains/ and browse, you will see that British railway timetables use the 24 hour clock.
