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The hidden politics of ti...

The hidden politics of time: How clocks, calendars and time zones came to be

B1🇪🇸 Español → 🇺🇸 English

August 14th, 2026

The hidden politics of time: How clocks, calendars and time zones came to be

Please note: This article has been simplified for language learning purposes. Some context and nuance from the original text may have been modified or removed.

🇺🇸 English

Time is a concern for everyone, but people have never measured it in the same way.

El tiempo preocupa a todos, pero la gente nunca lo ha medido de la misma manera.

The way we track time has been shaped by culture, religion, economics, and politics.

La forma en que medimos el tiempo ha sido influida por la cultura, la religión, la economía y la política.

Elizabeth Cohen, a political science professor at Boston University, says every way of measuring time is chosen by people.

Elizabeth Cohen, profesora de ciencias políticas en la Universidad de Boston, dice que cada forma de medir el tiempo es elegida por la gente.

None of it is natural.

Nada de eso es natural.

Calendars have been very different across history.

Los calendarios han sido muy diferentes a lo largo de la historia.

Some follow the sun, some follow the moon, and some follow both.

Algunos siguen el sol, otros siguen la luna, y otros siguen ambos.

Even today, the Gregorian calendar is used worldwide, but other calendars are still used for religious or cultural reasons.

Incluso hoy, el calendario gregoriano se usa en todo el mundo, pero otros calendarios todavía se usan por razones religiosas o culturales.

Daylight saving time shows a wish for natural time, says Michael O’Malley, a history professor at George Mason University.

El cambio de hora muestra un deseo de tiempo natural, dice Michael O’Malley, profesor de historia en la Universidad George Mason.

He notes that it only makes sense in a society that is fully focused on clocks.

Él señala que solo tiene sentido en una sociedad que está totalmente centrada en los relojes.

Industrialization changed time from a natural rhythm to a fixed schedule.

La industrialización cambió el tiempo de un ritmo natural a un horario fijo.

It tried to give people a regular, unchanging sense of time, O’Malley says.

Intentó dar a la gente una sensación regular y constante del tiempo, dice O’Malley.

In the 1800s, U.S. railroads created a four-zone system in 1883 to make time the same across the country.

En el siglo XIX, los ferrocarriles de EE. UU. crearon un sistema de cuatro zonas en 1883 para que la hora fuera la misma en todo el país.

The Prime Meridian, which runs through Greenwich, England, was chosen in 1884 because Britain was a strong empire, says Kevin Birth, an anthropology professor at Queens College.

El meridiano cero, que pasa por Greenwich, Inglaterra, fue elegido en 1884 porque Gran Bretaña era un imperio fuerte, dice Kevin Birth, profesor de antropología en Queens College.

Time zones are political, because countries and states make their own rules.

Las zonas horarias son políticas, porque los países y los estados hacen sus propias reglas.

China has one official time zone for national unity, though locals adjust to natural daylight.

China tiene una sola zona horaria oficial para la unidad nacional, aunque la gente local se adapta a la luz natural.

Time can also be used to control disagreement, such as through curfews or strikes.

El tiempo también se puede usar para controlar el desacuerdo, por ejemplo con toques de queda o huelgas.

Cohen says time has a lot of power.

Cohen dice que el tiempo tiene mucho poder.

People fight over it to control others or to free themselves from control.

La gente pelea por él para controlar a otros o para liberarse del control.

August 14th, 2026

The Lingo Times

The hidden politics of time: How clocks, calendars and time zones came to be

The hidden politics of time: How clocks, calendars and time zones came to be

🇺🇸 English

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