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Why use zone names at all?
by Chris Carrier June 18, 1996

June 18, 1996

Actually, in a worldwide database I would avoid using zone names altogether and use numbers only; whatever MET or CET is right, they're both GMT+1. Same for BST and IST.

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Why is CET called MET?
by Paul Eggert June 18, 1996

June 18, 1996

[The following item, posted on comp.std.internat, is of interest to the tz mailing list. If Hullah's right, `MET' should be replaced by `CET' everywhere in <URL:ftp://elsie.nci.nih.gov/pub/tzdata96h.tar.gz> except for the `MET' timezone itself. I realize this might break things, though. Comments? --eggert] From: Peter Hullah <Peter.Hullah(a)eurocontrol.fr> Newsgroups: comp.std.internat Subject: Why is CET called MET? Date: Mon, 17 Jun 1996 17:25:44 +0200 Organization: EUROCONTROL European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation Message-ID: <31C578F8.258F(a)eurocontrol.fr> Hi, I'm sure this has done the rounds many times before, but I'm new to this group and don't have the archives handy. Can someone please tell me why the heck Central European Time (i.e. the timezone for Central Europe) - which has been called that since I was a kid (a long time!) and still is called that by every English speaking European who cares, especially the satellite TV stations - is known as MET in International standards? Where on Earth is 'Middle Europe'? Doesn't the ISO group, or others, responsible for writing the standards (ISO 8601 et al) have a native English-speaker on it? Thanks Pete -- Peter H.C. Hullah Technical Services mailto:Peter.Hullah@eurocontrol.fr EUROCONTROL Experimental Centre Phone: +33 1 69 88 75 49 BP 15, Rue des Bordes, Fax: +33 1 60 85 15 04 F-91222 BRETIGNY SUR ORGE CEDEX

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a small town in Kent to revive local time zone?
by Paul Eggert June 18, 1996

June 18, 1996

In <URL:news:4q3nc7$qu4@airgun.wg.waii.com> ltso(a)phoenix.london.waii.com (Marc Brett) writes: a small town in Kent is planning to revive its own local time zone -- 5 min 41 sec ahead of GMT! I asked him for more, and he wrote by private mail: I heard it on today's noon BBC news broadcast. It seems to be a millennium celebration project so that this town (on the east coast) can have bragging rights to starting the new year 2000 before Greenwich. Should be in tomorrow's papers, and maybe in the electronic equivalent of same (Guardian, Daily Telegraph, Evening Standard?) He'll see if he can dig up more, and I thought I'd alert the tz list too. (I wonder what the EU will have to say about this. :-)

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British Double Summer Time (BDST)
by Chris Carrier June 14, 1996

June 14, 1996

I remember reading in various wartime issues of the London Times the acronym BDST for British Double Summer Time. Look for the published time of sunrise and sunset in The Times, when BDST was in effect, and if you find a zone reference it will say, "All times B.D.S.T."

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Comment on last posting
by Chris Carrier June 14, 1996

June 14, 1996

Comments on the last posting to the mailing list: I can confirm that British Double Summer Time began on Easter Monday in 1945, at the request of religious leaders, who didn't want the change made on Easter Sunday because it might interfere with attendance at services. (Source: London Times, 1945 Apr 2.) I was under the impression that Northern Ireland observed BDST on the same dates that the rest of the UK did, but that the Republic of Ireland remained on GMT+1 (BST) all year long during WW2 whether or not the UK was on BST or BDST. I just called the AT&T operator to get the time in St. John's, Newfoundland and was quoted GMT-2:30. This would be Newfoundland single, not double, DST. So if they were advancing 2 hours instead of 1 in 1989 (which I find doubtful without confirmation) they are no longer doing it. A call a few days ago to our friends at AT&T got me a time quote for Beijing and Shanghai, of GMT+8. I presume from this that the PRC is no longer into seasonal time changes, and that the whole nation is on GMT+8, which works out in practice to standard time on most of the coast, DST in Chungking, 2*DST in Urumchi (Urumqi) 3*DST in Kashgar, and DST in reverse in Manchuria. Also I remember hearing that Inuvik was on MST w/DST in the early 1970s, then switched to PST w/DST, then switched back to MST w/DST in 1979. Also find it hard to believe an Arctic location would have used DST in peacetime before the late 1960s; unfortunately I don't have precise info available.

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proposed zoneinfo changes for Canada, Britain, Ireland
by Paul Eggert June 13, 1996

June 13, 1996

Here are proposed changes to the tz database, taken from the following: * I went through Shanks to find all unique timezone histories in Canada since 1970; one (America/Dawson_Creek) is unique in Canada even today. * An anonymous tz contributor showed that `IST' is the correct name for summer time in Dublin. * While proofreading the above correction I found some other bugs for Britain and Ireland in 1968 and 1971, which Peter Ilieve kindly verified. * New comments about the noted DST innovator Benjamin Franklin; about a couple of time zone mysteries associated with Watson Lake, Yukon, and Liverpool, Nova Scotia; and about a few other subjects. Comments (particularly from Canadian readers) are welcome. Here is a more detailed log of the proposed changes: europe data: In Dublin use `IST' instead of `BST' (since 1921-12-06). London's 1971-10-31 transition was at 03:00, not 02:00. Set isdst=1 in Belfast, Dublin, and London from 1968-02-18 to 1968-10-27. northamerica data: Create the zone America/Dawson_Creek, which observes MST all year. Northwest Territories and Yukon did not observe DST from 1966 through 1979, so create zones for Inuvik, Iqaluit, Pangnirtung, Rankin_Inlet, Yellowknife. Create the zones America/Nipigon and America/Rainy_River for EST and CST locales that did not observe DST in 1970-1973. Create the zone America/Thunder_Bay, which skipped DST in 1973. Create the zone America/Dawson, which switched from YST to PST in 1973. Create the zone America/Swift_Current for west Saskatechewan towns that switched from MST/MDT to CST in 1972. Create zone America/Glace_Bay for AST locales that did not use DST in 1970-1971. Regina observed CST (not MDT) between 1960 and 1966. Whitehorse's 1966-07-01 transition was at 02:00 (not 00:00). Northwest Territories and Yukon observed double DST in 1965. In 1959, Regina switched from MDT to MST on 10-25, not 09-27. Whitehorse switched from YDT to YST on 1945-09-30 (this transition was missing). comments: Add comments about noted DST innovators B Franklin and W Willett, plus an acerbic quote about DST by R Davies. Remove old vague or misleading comments about Canadian rules. Move comments about Canadian provinces closer to the tables that they describe, and add a header for each major table. Touch up comments about Italy. Add a source for this year's changes to Mexico's rules. Here is the proposed patch: =================================================================== RCS file: RCS/europe,v retrieving revision 1996.8 retrieving revision 1996.8.1.1 diff -c -r1996.8 -r1996.8.1.1 *** europe 1996/05/09 21:40:46 1996.8 --- europe 1996/06/13 05:39:38 1996.8.1.1 *************** *** 125,130 **** --- 125,139 ---- # transition date for London, namely 1847 Sep 22. We don't know as much # about Dublin, so we use 1880 Aug 2, the legal transition time. + # From Paul Eggert (1996-06-12): + # Summer Time was first seriously proposed by William Willett (1857-1915), + # a London builder who circulated a pamphlet ``Waste of Daylight'' (1907) + # that proposed advancing clocks 20 minutes on each of four Sundays in April, + # and retarding them by the same amount on four Sundays in September. + # A bill was drafted in 1909 and introduced in Parliament several times, + # but it met with ridicule and opposition, especially from farming interests. + # One-hour Summer Time was eventually adopted as a wartime measure in 1916. + # From Arthur David Olson (January 19, 1989): # # A source at the British Information Office in New York avers that it's *************** *** 418,423 **** --- 427,448 ---- # who provided the wartime regulations and a snippet of Hansard explaining # why double summer time started on a Monday in 1945 (it was Easter). + # From Peter Ilieve <peter(a)aldie.co.uk> (1996-05-29): + # I have now got a copy of the British Standard Time Act 1968. + # It says (S4(2)) that it expires at 02:00 GMT on 31 October 1971 unless + # an Order in Council was passed in Parliament to make the Act permanent. + # No Order was passed, so 02:00 1971-10-31 it is... + # + # Interestingly, it says baldly `This Act shall come into force on + # 27 October 1968', without giving a time. As S1 of the Act merely + # stated that `The time for general purposes in the United Kingdom + # (to be known as British standard time) shall be one hour in + # advance of Greenwich mean time throughout the year; ...' you could + # possibly argue that the start time of BStandardT was 00:00 1968-10-27, + # especially as the Act repealed the Summer Time Acts 1916--1947 in toto, + # thereby destroying the authority of the Summer Time Order specifying + # summer time in 1968.... + # From Peter Ilieve <peter(a)memex.co.uk> (November 18, 1993) # # Here is a revised version of my tabrules file for the perl script I sent *************** *** 617,623 **** # To maintain strict historical accuracy you could start a new UK ending rule # of Oct Sun>=22 in 1990. ! # From Paul Eggert <eggert(a)twinsun.com> (November 18, 1993): # # As Ilieve remarks, the date `20 April 1924' in the table of ``Summer Time: A # Consultation Document'' (Cm 722, 1989) table is a transcription error; --- 642,648 ---- # To maintain strict historical accuracy you could start a new UK ending rule # of Oct Sun>=22 in 1990. ! # From Paul Eggert <eggert(a)twinsun.com> (1996-06-12): # # As Ilieve remarks, the date `20 April 1924' in the table of ``Summer Time: A # Consultation Document'' (Cm 722, 1989) table is a transcription error; *************** *** 637,651 **** # It actually just had one transition. # * Northern Ireland used single daylight savings time throughout WW II. # Actually, it conformed to Britain. # ! # The following claim by Shanks is possible though doubtful; ! # we'll ignore it for now. # * Jersey, Guernsey, and the Isle of Man did not switch from GMT # to daylight savings time until 1921 Apr 3, when they began to # conform with Great Britain. # # Whitman says Dublin Mean Time was -0:25:21, which is more precise than Shanks. # Rule NAME FROM TO TYPE IN ON AT SAVE LETTER/S # 1916 to 1925--irregular Rule GB-Eire 1916 only - May 21 2:00s 1:00 BST --- 662,689 ---- # It actually just had one transition. # * Northern Ireland used single daylight savings time throughout WW II. # Actually, it conformed to Britain. + # * GB-Eire changed standard time to 1 hour ahead of GMT on 1968-02-18. + # Actually, that date saw the usual switch to summer time. + # Standard time was not changed until 1968-10-27 (the clocks didn't change). # ! # The following claims by Shanks are possible though doubtful; ! # we'll ignore them for now. # * Jersey, Guernsey, and the Isle of Man did not switch from GMT # to daylight savings time until 1921 Apr 3, when they began to # conform with Great Britain. + # * Dublin's 1971-10-31 switch was at 02:00, even though London's was 03:00. + # # # Whitman says Dublin Mean Time was -0:25:21, which is more precise than Shanks. + # From an anonymous contributor (1996-06-02): + # The law governing time in Ireland is under Statutory Instrument SI 395/94, + # which gives force to European Union 7th Council Directive # 94/21/EC. + # Under this directive, the Minister for Justice in Ireland makes appropriate + # regulations. I spoke this morning with the Secretary of the Department of + # Justice (tel +353 1 678 9711) who confirmed to me that the correct name is + # "Irish Summer Time", abbreviated to "IST". + # Rule NAME FROM TO TYPE IN ON AT SAVE LETTER/S # 1916 to 1925--irregular Rule GB-Eire 1916 only - May 21 2:00s 1:00 BST *************** *** 710,720 **** Rule GB-Eire 1960 only - Apr 10 2:00s 1:00 BST Rule GB-Eire 1961 1963 - Mar lastSun 2:00s 1:00 BST Rule GB-Eire 1964 1967 - Mar Sun>=19 2:00s 1:00 BST Rule GB-Eire 1972 1980 - Mar Sun>=16 2:00s 1:00 BST # 1953 to 1980, ending rules Rule GB-Eire 1953 1960 - Oct Sun>=1 2:00s 0 GMT ! Rule GB-Eire 1961 1967 - Oct Sun>=23 2:00s 0 GMT ! Rule GB-Eire 1971 only - Oct 31 3:00 0 GMT Rule GB-Eire 1972 1980 - Oct Sun>=23 2:00s 0 GMT # 1981 on Rule GB-Eire 1981 1995 - Mar lastSun 1:00u 1:00 BST --- 748,758 ---- Rule GB-Eire 1960 only - Apr 10 2:00s 1:00 BST Rule GB-Eire 1961 1963 - Mar lastSun 2:00s 1:00 BST Rule GB-Eire 1964 1967 - Mar Sun>=19 2:00s 1:00 BST + Rule GB-Eire 1968 only - Feb 18 2:00s 1:00 BST Rule GB-Eire 1972 1980 - Mar Sun>=16 2:00s 1:00 BST # 1953 to 1980, ending rules Rule GB-Eire 1953 1960 - Oct Sun>=1 2:00s 0 GMT ! Rule GB-Eire 1961 1968 - Oct Sun>=23 2:00s 0 GMT Rule GB-Eire 1972 1980 - Oct Sun>=23 2:00s 0 GMT # 1981 on Rule GB-Eire 1981 1995 - Mar lastSun 1:00u 1:00 BST *************** *** 724,752 **** # Zone NAME GMTOFF RULES FORMAT [UNTIL] Zone Europe/London -0:01:15 - LMT 1847 Sep 22 ! 0:00 GB-Eire %s 1968 Feb 18 2:00 ! 1:00 - BST 1971 Oct 31 2:00 0:00 GB-Eire %s 1996 0:00 EU GMT/BST Zone Europe/Belfast -0:23:40 - LMT 1880 Aug 2 -0:25:21 - DMT 1916 May 21 2:00 # Dublin MT -0:25:21 1:00 DST 1916 Oct 1 3:00 ! 0:00 GB-Eire %s 1968 Feb 18 2:00 ! 1:00 - BST 1971 Oct 31 3:00 0:00 GB-Eire %s 1996 0:00 EU GMT/BST Zone Europe/Dublin -0:25:21 - LMT 1880 Aug 2 -0:25:21 - DMT 1916 May 21 2:00 # Dublin MT -0:25:21 1:00 DST 1916 Oct 1 3:00 ! 0:00 GB-Eire %s 1940 Feb 25 2:00 ! 0:00 1:00 BST 1946 Oct 6 2:00 0:00 - GMT 1947 Mar 16 2:00 ! 0:00 1:00 BST 1947 Nov 2 2:00 0:00 - GMT 1948 Apr 18 2:00 ! 0:00 GB-Eire %s 1968 Feb 18 2:00 ! 1:00 - BST 1971 Oct 31 3:00 ! 0:00 GB-Eire %s 1996 ! 0:00 EU GMT/BST ############################################################################### --- 762,791 ---- # Zone NAME GMTOFF RULES FORMAT [UNTIL] Zone Europe/London -0:01:15 - LMT 1847 Sep 22 ! 0:00 GB-Eire %s 1968 Oct 27 ! 1:00 - BST 1971 Oct 31 2:00u 0:00 GB-Eire %s 1996 0:00 EU GMT/BST Zone Europe/Belfast -0:23:40 - LMT 1880 Aug 2 -0:25:21 - DMT 1916 May 21 2:00 # Dublin MT -0:25:21 1:00 DST 1916 Oct 1 3:00 ! 0:00 GB-Eire %s 1968 Oct 27 ! 1:00 - BST 1971 Oct 31 2:00u 0:00 GB-Eire %s 1996 0:00 EU GMT/BST Zone Europe/Dublin -0:25:21 - LMT 1880 Aug 2 -0:25:21 - DMT 1916 May 21 2:00 # Dublin MT -0:25:21 1:00 DST 1916 Oct 1 3:00 ! 0:00 GB-Eire %s 1921 Dec 6 ! 0:00 GB-Eire GMT/IST 1940 Feb 25 2:00 ! 0:00 1:00 IST 1946 Oct 6 2:00 0:00 - GMT 1947 Mar 16 2:00 ! 0:00 1:00 IST 1947 Nov 2 2:00 0:00 - GMT 1948 Apr 18 2:00 ! 0:00 GB-Eire GMT/IST 1968 Oct 27 ! 1:00 - IST 1971 Oct 31 2:00u ! 0:00 GB-Eire GMT/IST 1996 ! 0:00 EU GMT/IST ############################################################################### *************** *** 1294,1304 **** # Italy # From Paul Eggert (1996-05-06): # For Italian DST we have three sources: Shanks, Whitman, and F. Pollastri ! # <http://pisolo.cstv.to.cnr.it/toi/it/ienitlt.html> (see `FP' below), # taken from a publication of the Italian National Electrotechnical Institute. # When the three sources disagree, guess who's right, as follows: # ! # year FP Shanks (S) Whitman (W) Go with: # 1916 06-03 06-03 24:00 06-03 00:00 FP & W # 09-30 09-30 24:00 09-30 01:00 FP; guess 24:00s # 1917 04-01 03-31 24:00 03-31 00:00 FP & S --- 1333,1343 ---- # Italy # From Paul Eggert (1996-05-06): # For Italian DST we have three sources: Shanks, Whitman, and F. Pollastri ! # <URL:http://pisolo.cstv.to.cnr.it/toi/uk/ienitlt.html> (see `FP' below), # taken from a publication of the Italian National Electrotechnical Institute. # When the three sources disagree, guess who's right, as follows: # ! # year FP Shanks (S) Whitman (W) Go with: # 1916 06-03 06-03 24:00 06-03 00:00 FP & W # 09-30 09-30 24:00 09-30 01:00 FP; guess 24:00s # 1917 04-01 03-31 24:00 03-31 00:00 FP & S =================================================================== RCS file: RCS/northamerica,v retrieving revision 1996.7 retrieving revision 1996.7.1.1 diff -c -r1996.7 -r1996.7.1.1 *** northamerica 1996/05/03 02:49:59 1996.7 --- northamerica 1996/06/13 05:39:38 1996.7.1.1 *************** *** 21,26 **** --- 21,44 ---- # Make sure you have the errata sheet; the book is somewhat useless without it. # It is the source for the US and Puerto Rico entries below. + # From Paul Eggert (1996-06-12): + # Daylight Saving Time was first suggested as a joke by Benjamin Franklin + # in his whimsical essay ``Turkey vs Eagle, McCauley is my Beagle'' (1784). + # Not everyone is happy with the results: + # + # I don't really care how time is reckoned so long as there is some + # agreement about it, but I object to being told that I am saving + # daylight when my reason tells me that I am doing nothing of the kind. + # I even object to the implication that I am wasting something + # valuable if I stay in bed after the sun has risen. As an admirer + # of moonlight I resent the bossy insistence of those who want to + # reduce my time for enjoying it. At the back of the Daylight Saving + # scheme I detect the bony, blue-fingered hand of Puritanism, eager + # to push people into bed earlier, and get them up earlier, to make + # them healthy, wealthy and wise in spite of themselves. + # + # -- Robertson Davies, The Diary of Samuel Marchbanks (1947), XIX, Sunday + # From Arthur David Olson: # US Daylight Saving Time ended on the last Sunday of *October* in 1974. # See, for example, the front page of the Saturday, October 26, 1974 *************** *** 463,540 **** # Canada - # Canada is reportedly lots easier than the US--leastways since 1951. - # I don't know what they did before then. - # 4.3BSD claims that it's perfectly regular. - # According to a posting in "comp.bugs.misc", "comp.unix.wizards", etc. - # on February 8, 1987, by Dave Sherman of the Law Society of Upper Canada, - # "...Canada (well, Ontario and at least some of the other provinces) are - # adopting the new daylight savings time rules...". We assume all of - # Canada is doing so. - - # From Bob Devine (January 28, 1988): - # All of Canada did have DST from your first rule except Saskatchewan. - # Which parts did not observe DST is hard to pinpoint but most of the - # province follows the rules. - # NOTE: those that didn't have DST for that rule, also - # probably did not have it for several years previous. - - # From U. S. Naval Observatory (January 19, 1989): - # CANADA NEW FDL 3.5H BEHIND UTC ST.JOHN'S - # CANADA NEW FDL 1.5H BEHIND UTC APR 3 - OCT 29 - # CANADA ATLANTIC 4 H BEHIND UTC HALIFAX - # CANADA ATLANTIC 3 H BEHIND UTC APR 3 - OCT 29 - # CANADA EASTERN 5 H BEHIND UTC TORONTO, MONTREAL, OTTAWA - # CANADA EASTERN 4 H BEHIND UTC APR 3 - OCT 29 - # CANADA CENTRAL 6 H BEHIND UTC REGINA, WINNIPEG - # CANADA CENTRAL 5 H BEHIND UTC APR 3 - OCT 29 - # CANADA MOUNTAIN 7 H BEHIND UTC CALGARY, EDMONTON - # CANADA MOUNTAIN 6 H BEHIND UTC APR 3 - OCT 29 - # CANADA PACIFIC 8 H BEHIND UTC VANCOUVER - # CANADA PACIFIC 7 H BEHIND UTC APR 3 - OCT 29 - # CANADA YUKON SAME AS PACIFIC DAWSON - - # From Arthur David Olson (January 21, 1989): - # April 3 fell on a Sunday in 1988; October 29 fell on a Sunday in 1989. Ahem. - # Note claim that there's double DST in Newfoundland and that Yukon should - # be same as Pacific. - - # From W. Jones (jones(a)skdad.usask.ca) (November 6, 1992): - # The. . .below is based on information I got from our law library, the - # provincial archives, and the provincial Community Services department. - # A precise history would require digging through newspaper archives, and - # since you didn't say what you wanted, I didn't bother. - # - # Saskatchewan is split by a time zone meridian (105W) and over the years - # the boundary became pretty ragged as communities near it reevaluated - # their affiliations in one direction or the other. In 1965 a provincial - # referendum favoured legislating common time practices. - # - # On 15 April 1966 the Time Act (c. T-14, Revised Statutes of - # Saskatchewan 1978) was proclaimed, and established that the eastern - # part of Saskatchewan would use CST year round, that districts in - # northwest Saskatchewan would by default follow CST but could opt to - # follow Mountain Time rules (thus 1 hour difference in the winter and - # zero in the summer), and that districts in southwest Saskatchewan would - # by default follow MT but could opt to follow CST. - # - # It took a few years for the dust to settle (I know one story of a town - # on one time zone having its school in another, such that a mom had to - # serve her family lunch in two shifts), but presently it seems that only - # a few towns on the border with Alberta (e.g. Lloydminster) follow MT - # rules any more; all other districts appear to have used CST year round - # since sometime in the 1960s. - # - # Here's how I would summarize things. Establish a "Saskatchewan" CST - # time zone, and note that it officially exists as of 15 April 1966. Any - # current exceptions can put themselves in the "Mountain" zone, since - # those are the rules they follow. Any past exceptions can be forgotten, - # since that's what those who live here have done. - - # From Arthur David Olson (November 21, 1992): - # East-Saskatchewan kept to avoid problems for folks using that zone by name; - # plain Saskatchewan added. - # From Alain LaBont<e'> <ALB(a)immedia.ca> (1994-11-14): # I post here the time zone abbreviations standardized in Canada # for both English and French in the CAN/CSA-Z234.4-89 standard.... --- 481,486 ---- *************** *** 567,573 **** # From Paul Eggert <eggert(a)twinsun.com> (1994-11-22): # Alas, this sort of thing must be handled by localization software. ! # From Shanks (1991): # Rule NAME FROM TO TYPE IN ON AT SAVE LETTER/S Rule StJohns 1917 1918 - Apr Sun>=8 2:00 1:00 D Rule StJohns 1917 only - Sep 17 2:00 0 S --- 513,533 ---- # From Paul Eggert <eggert(a)twinsun.com> (1994-11-22): # Alas, this sort of thing must be handled by localization software. ! # The data for Canada are all from Shanks (1991). ! ! ! # Rule NAME FROM TO TYPE IN ON AT SAVE LETTER/S ! Rule Canada 1918 only - Apr 14 2:00 1:00 D ! Rule Canada 1918 only - Oct 31 2:00 0 S ! Rule Canada 1942 only - Feb 9 2:00 1:00 D ! Rule Canada 1945 only - Sep 30 2:00 0 S ! Rule Canada 1974 1986 - Apr lastSun 2:00 1:00 D ! Rule Canada 1974 max - Oct lastSun 2:00 0 S ! Rule Canada 1987 max - Apr Sun>=1 2:00 1:00 D ! ! ! # Newfoundland ! # Rule NAME FROM TO TYPE IN ON AT SAVE LETTER/S Rule StJohns 1917 1918 - Apr Sun>=8 2:00 1:00 D Rule StJohns 1917 only - Sep 17 2:00 0 S *************** *** 606,611 **** --- 566,581 ---- -3:31 StJohns N%sT 1935 Mar 30 -3:30 StJohns N%sT + + # Labrador, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward I + + # From Paul Eggert (1996-06-12): + # Shanks writes that since 1970 most of this region has been like Halifax. + # Many locales did not observe peacetime DST until 1972; + # Glace Bay, NS is the largest that we know of. + # Shanks also writes that Liverpool, NS was the only town in Canada to observe + # DST in 1971 but not 1970; for now we'll assume this is a typo. + # Rule NAME FROM TO TYPE IN ON AT SAVE LETTER/S Rule Halifax 1916 only - Apr 1 0:00 1:00 D Rule Halifax 1916 only - Oct 1 0:00 0 S *************** *** 650,655 **** --- 620,640 ---- # Zone NAME GMTOFF RULES FORMAT [UNTIL] Zone America/Halifax -4:14:24 - LMT 1902 Jun 15 -4:00 Halifax A%sT + Zone America/Glace_Bay -3:59:48 - LMT 1902 Jun 15 + -4:00 Canada A%sT 1953 + -4:00 Halifax A%sT 1954 + -4:00 - AST 1972 + -4:00 Halifax A%sT + + + # Ontario, Quebec + + # From Paul Eggert (1996-06-12): + # Shanks writes that since 1970 most of this region has been like Montreal. + # Thunder Bay skipped DST in 1973. + # Many smaller locales did not observe peacetime DST until 1974; + # Nipigon (EST) and Rainy River (CST) are the largest that we know of. + # Far west Ontario is like Winnipeg; far east Quebec is like Halifax. # Rule NAME FROM TO TYPE IN ON AT SAVE LETTER/S Rule Mont 1917 only - Mar 25 2:00 1:00 D *************** *** 683,688 **** --- 668,685 ---- # Zone NAME GMTOFF RULES FORMAT [UNTIL] Zone America/Montreal -4:54:16 - LMT 1884 -5:00 Mont E%sT + Zone America/Thunder_Bay -5:57:00 - LMT 1895 + -5:00 Canada E%sT 1970 + -5:00 Mont E%sT 1973 + -5:00 - EST 1974 + -5:00 Canada E%sT + Zone America/Nipigon -5:53:04 - LMT 1895 + -5:00 Canada E%sT + Zone America/Rainy_River -6:17:56 - LMT 1895 + -6:00 Canada C%sT + + + # Manitoba # Rule NAME FROM TO TYPE IN ON AT SAVE LETTER/S Rule Winn 1916 only - Apr 23 0:00 1:00 D *************** *** 712,717 **** --- 709,748 ---- Zone America/Winnipeg -6:28:36 - LMT 1887 Jul 16 -6:00 Winn C%sT + + # Saskatchewan + + # From Paul Eggert (1996-06-12): + # Shanks writes that since 1970 most of this region has been like Regina. + # Some western towns (e.g. Swift Current) switched from MST/MDT to CST in 1972. + # Other western towns (e.g. Lloydminster) are like Edmonton. + + # From W. Jones <jones(a)skdad.usask.ca> (November 6, 1992): + # The. . .below is based on information I got from our law library, the + # provincial archives, and the provincial Community Services department. + # A precise history would require digging through newspaper archives, and + # since you didn't say what you wanted, I didn't bother. + # + # Saskatchewan is split by a time zone meridian (105W) and over the years + # the boundary became pretty ragged as communities near it reevaluated + # their affiliations in one direction or the other. In 1965 a provincial + # referendum favoured legislating common time practices. + # + # On 15 April 1966 the Time Act (c. T-14, Revised Statutes of + # Saskatchewan 1978) was proclaimed, and established that the eastern + # part of Saskatchewan would use CST year round, that districts in + # northwest Saskatchewan would by default follow CST but could opt to + # follow Mountain Time rules (thus 1 hour difference in the winter and + # zero in the summer), and that districts in southwest Saskatchewan would + # by default follow MT but could opt to follow CST. + # + # It took a few years for the dust to settle (I know one story of a town + # on one time zone having its school in another, such that a mom had to + # serve her family lunch in two shifts), but presently it seems that only + # a few towns on the border with Alberta (e.g. Lloydminster) follow MT + # rules any more; all other districts appear to have used CST year round + # since sometime in the 1960s. + # Rule NAME FROM TO TYPE IN ON AT SAVE LETTER/S Rule Regina 1918 only - Apr 14 2:00 1:00 D Rule Regina 1918 only - Oct 31 2:00 0 S *************** *** 723,737 **** Rule Regina 1939 1941 - Oct Sun>=8 0:00 0 S Rule Regina 1942 only - Feb 9 2:00 1:00 D Rule Regina 1945 only - Sep lastSun 2:00 0 S ! Rule Regina 1946 only - Apr 14 2:00 1:00 D ! Rule Regina 1946 only - Oct 13 2:00 0 S ! Rule Regina 1947 1960 - Apr lastSun 2:00 1:00 D ! Rule Regina 1947 1959 - Sep lastSun 2:00 0 S # Zone NAME GMTOFF RULES FORMAT [UNTIL] ! Zone America/Regina -6:58:36 - LMT 1905 Sep ! -7:00 Regina M%sT 1966 Apr 15 -6:00 - CST # Rule NAME FROM TO TYPE IN ON AT SAVE LETTER/S Rule Edm 1918 1919 - Apr Sun>=8 2:00 1:00 D Rule Edm 1918 only - Oct 31 2:00 0 S --- 754,783 ---- Rule Regina 1939 1941 - Oct Sun>=8 0:00 0 S Rule Regina 1942 only - Feb 9 2:00 1:00 D Rule Regina 1945 only - Sep lastSun 2:00 0 S ! Rule Regina 1946 only - Apr Sun>=8 2:00 1:00 D ! Rule Regina 1946 only - Oct Sun>=8 2:00 0 S ! Rule Regina 1947 1959 - Apr lastSun 2:00 1:00 D ! Rule Regina 1947 1958 - Sep lastSun 2:00 0 S ! Rule Regina 1959 only - Oct lastSun 2:00 0 S ! # ! Rule Swift 1957 only - Apr lastSun 2:00 1:00 D ! Rule Swift 1957 only - Oct lastSun 2:00 0 S ! Rule Swift 1959 1961 - Apr lastSun 2:00 1:00 D ! Rule Swift 1959 only - Oct lastSun 2:00 0 S ! Rule Swift 1960 1961 - Sep lastSun 2:00 0 S # Zone NAME GMTOFF RULES FORMAT [UNTIL] ! Zone America/Regina -6:58:36 - LMT 1905 Sep ! -7:00 Regina M%sT 1960 Apr lastSun 2:00 ! -6:00 - CST ! Zone America/Swift_Current -7:11:20 - LMT 1905 Sep ! -7:00 Canada M%sT 1946 Apr lastSun 2:00 ! -7:00 Regina M%sT 1950 ! -7:00 Swift M%sT 1972 Apr lastSun 2:00 -6:00 - CST + + # Alberta + # Rule NAME FROM TO TYPE IN ON AT SAVE LETTER/S Rule Edm 1918 1919 - Apr Sun>=8 2:00 1:00 D Rule Edm 1918 only - Oct 31 2:00 0 S *************** *** 754,759 **** --- 800,812 ---- Zone America/Edmonton -7:33:52 - LMT 1906 Sep -7:00 Edm M%sT + + # British Columbia + + # From Paul Eggert (1996-06-12): + # Shanks writes that since 1970 most of this region has been like Vancouver. + # Dawswon Creek uses MST. Much of east BC is like Edmonton. + # Rule NAME FROM TO TYPE IN ON AT SAVE LETTER/S Rule Vanc 1918 only - Apr 14 2:00 1:00 D Rule Vanc 1918 only - Oct 31 2:00 0 S *************** *** 767,789 **** # Zone NAME GMTOFF RULES FORMAT [UNTIL] Zone America/Vancouver -8:12:28 - LMT 1884 -8:00 Vanc P%sT # Rule NAME FROM TO TYPE IN ON AT SAVE LETTER/S ! Rule Yukon 1918 only - Apr 14 2:00 1:00 D ! Rule Yukon 1918 only - Oct 27 2:00 0 S ! Rule Yukon 1919 only - May 25 2:00 1:00 D ! Rule Yukon 1919 only - Nov 1 0:00 0 S ! Rule Yukon 1942 only - Feb 9 2:00 1:00 D ! Rule Yukon 1965 only - Apr 25 0:00 1:00 D ! Rule Yukon 1965 only - Oct 31 2:00 0 S ! Rule Yukon 1980 1986 - Apr lastSun 2:00 1:00 D ! Rule Yukon 1980 max - Oct lastSun 2:00 0 S ! Rule Yukon 1987 max - Apr Sun>=1 2:00 1:00 D ! # Zone NAME GMTOFF RULES FORMAT [UNTIL] Zone America/Whitehorse -9:00:12 - LMT 1900 Aug 20 ! -9:00 Yukon Y%sT 1966 Jul ! -8:00 Yukon P%sT ! # Parts of Yukon (e.g. Dawson) didn't switch to -8:00 until 1973 Oct 28. ############################################################################### --- 820,869 ---- # Zone NAME GMTOFF RULES FORMAT [UNTIL] Zone America/Vancouver -8:12:28 - LMT 1884 -8:00 Vanc P%sT + Zone America/Dawson_Creek -8:00:56 - LMT 1884 + -8:00 Canada P%sT 1947 + -8:00 Vanc P%sT 1972 Aug 30 2:00 + -7:00 - MST + + + # Northwest Territories, Yukon + + # From Paul Eggert (1996-06-12): + # Dawson switched to PST in 1973. Inuvik switched to MST in 1979. + # Shanks's table for Watson Lake is corrupted, so we have no data there. # Rule NAME FROM TO TYPE IN ON AT SAVE LETTER/S ! Rule NT_YK 1918 only - Apr 14 2:00 1:00 D ! Rule NT_YK 1918 only - Oct 27 2:00 0 S ! Rule NT_YK 1919 only - May 25 2:00 1:00 D ! Rule NT_YK 1919 only - Nov 1 0:00 0 S ! Rule NT_YK 1942 only - Feb 9 2:00 1:00 D ! Rule NT_YK 1945 only - Sep 30 2:00 0 S ! # 0:00 ?? ! Rule NT_YK 1965 only - Apr lastSun 0:00 2:00 DD ! Rule NT_YK 1965 only - Oct lastSun 2:00 0 S ! Rule NT_YK 1980 1986 - Apr lastSun 2:00 1:00 D ! Rule NT_YK 1980 max - Oct lastSun 2:00 0 S ! Rule NT_YK 1987 max - Apr Sun>=1 2:00 1:00 D ! # Zone NAME GMTOFF RULES FORMAT [UNTIL] ! Zone America/Pangnirtung -4:22:56 - LMT 1884 ! -4:00 NT_YK A%sT ! Zone America/Iqaluit -4:33:52 - LMT 1884 # Frobisher Bay ! -5:00 NT_YK E%sT ! Zone America/Rankin_Inlet -6:08:40 - LMT 1884 ! -6:00 NT_YK C%sT ! Zone America/Yellowknife -7:37:24 - LMT 1884 ! -7:00 NT_YK M%sT ! Zone America/Inuvik -8:54:00 - LMT 1884 ! -8:00 NT_YK P%sT 1979 Apr lastSun 2:00 ! -7:00 NT_YK M%sT Zone America/Whitehorse -9:00:12 - LMT 1900 Aug 20 ! -9:00 NT_YK Y%sT 1966 Jul 1 2:00 ! -8:00 NT_YK P%sT ! Zone America/Dawson -9:17:40 - LMT 1900 Aug 20 ! -9:00 NT_YK Y%sT 1973 Oct lastSun 2:00 ! -8:00 NT_YK P%sT ! ############################################################################### *************** *** 868,873 **** --- 948,957 ---- # The Decree was published in Mexico's Official Newspaper on January 4th. # # -------------- End Forwarded Message -------------- + # From Paul Eggert (1996-06-12): + # For an English translation of the decree, + # see ``Diario Oficial: Time Zone Changeover'', + # <URL:http://mexico-travel.com/extra/timezone_eng.html> (1996-01-04). # From Shanks (1991): # Rule NAME FROM TO TYPE IN ON AT SAVE LETTER/S

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Extracting timezone for a particular location
by llovero＠camb-lads.loral.com June 12, 1996

June 12, 1996

Hello - I am a software engineer working on a government project that needs timezone information for particular locations. It is an application that uses Advanced Distributed Simulation and sets up "wargaming scenarios" in different areas of the world. Each exercise is played on a different terrain database that represents a different part of the world. What I'm looking for is a way to take a location and look up what time zone it is in (the actual information I need is offset from UTC). I cannot depend on any environment variables being set because subsequent exercises may be run on different terrain databases. Any data files need to work on both big-endian and little-endian machines, so the comment in the tzarchive files about a new binary versions of timezone information intrigued me. The software needs to be public domain so it can be released with the project. Thanks for any info you can provide. - Linda Lovero -------- Linda Lovero Lockheed Martin Advanced Distributed Simulation Phone: (617)441-2009 50 Moulton Street Fax: (617)441-2069 Cambridge, MA 02138 email: llovero(a)camb-lads.loral.com

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tz test suite?
by Roland McGrath June 5, 1996

June 5, 1996

Has anyone kept track of all the timezone bugs and made a regression test suite that can be applied to a C library to make sure it handles time zones correctly for the various definitions of correct?

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tzcode96h.tar.gz
by ado June 5, 1996

June 5, 1996

tzcode96h.tar.gz is now available for anonymous ftp from elsie.nci.nih.gov (165.112.73.1) in the ~ftp/pub directory: -rw-r--r-- 1 ado 75300 Jun 5 08:02 tzcode96h.tar.gz The above includes the fix for handling transitions specified in Universal Time; some "public domain" notices have also been added. --ado

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zoneinfo europe
by Tony Sanders June 3, 1996

June 3, 1996

Hi, someone complained to me that: > At 22h37 WEZ here in Dublin you are showing time for Dublin, Ireland at > > Fri May 31 22:35:45 BST 1996 > > Dublin time is (currently) Irish Summer Time (IST) or WEZ (West > Europaische Zeit). Hi there. We are using the zoneinfo data from 4.4BSD-lite The current data I have for Dublin reads: Zone Europe/Dublin -0:25:21 - LMT 1880 Aug 2 -0:25:21 - DMT 1916 May 21 2:00 # Dublin MT -0:25:21 1:00 DST 1916 Oct 1 3:00 0:00 GB-Eire %s 1940 Feb 25 2:00 0:00 1:00 BST 1946 Oct 6 2:00 0:00 - GMT 1947 Mar 16 2:00 0:00 1:00 BST 1947 Nov 2 2:00 0:00 - GMT 1948 Apr 18 2:00 0:00 GB-Eire %s 1968 Feb 18 2:00 1:00 - BST 1971 Oct 31 3:00 0:00 GB-Eire %s Is there an official place to pick up current versions of the zoneinfo files? [and/or is anyone still maintaining them?] I suppose it is possible that BST is still the official timezone for Dublin but I gathered from the zoneinfo file that you would be interested in this information if you didn't already have it.

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