为了解决在海上计算经线的问题，1675年英格兰国王查理二世下令建造了皇家格林尼治天文台，同时他还悬赏了一大笔奖金，给予第一个发明出在海上也能准确计时的钟表的人。

He offered an enormous cash prize to anyone who could build a clock that would remain accurate at sea.

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他们选取了经英国格林威治的经线作为标准线(这各标准已经被海员使用了几个世纪了)。

They selected the longitudinal line that runs through Greenwich, England, as the standard from which they would measure (it had already been used by sailors for centuries).

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地理时间的使用始于大英帝国时期，当时用纬线和经线划分世界，零度经线通过伦敦的格林尼治天文台。

The geographic use of time began during the British Empire with the world divided by latitude and longitude, with zero degrees longitude running through the observatory at Greenwich, in London.

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