Chester Arthur and the beginning of the end
It was just a few weeks after the Rome Conference that the North American railways enacted their switch to standard time. By the end of the next fortnight, Chester Arthur, the 21st president of the United States had decided that the time was right to issue the invitations to what is now known as the International Meridian conference. The conference took place in October 1884 and was attended by 41 delegates from 25 nations. The write up of the proceedings was published in three different versions – separate English and French versions (links below) and a version in both languages that was produced for the House of Representatives.